Drakan: Road of Ice
by Native Avenger
Summary: Within the World of Drakan, mankind faces threats from all directions. Monsters and evil forces threaten the very existence of man. And without dragons to aid humans, mankind faces certain extinction. But one human wil awaken a slumbering dragon and challenge the evil of this dark fantasy world. But the question still remains, will they be able to push back the dark forces of old?
1. Doing What is Right

**Kwai kwai nidobak! In case any of you are wondering, what I just said means "hello, friends" in Abenaki. Anyway, this is a story I've wanted to write for awhile and it's based around one of my absolute favorite video games of all time. Not many people know about the wonderful Drakan series unfortunately, but I'm hoping that this story will make the games a little more known. This story will mostly take place during the events of Drakan: The Ancient Gates. For those of you who've never played the game, I will do my best to make everything in this story. I hope that you readers will like this story. Remember to leave a review or send me a PM!**

Chapter 1: Doing What is Right

There are legends from times long past, of an age without kings, when the world was united by the alliance between dragon and man. These legends speak of the Order of the Flame, which bonded noble warriors from across the globe with mighty dragons. These warriors and dragons would join their souls together to become one with their partner. For centuries, the Order of the Flame kept he world united and safe, but nothing lasts forever.

The Order was eventually destroyed from within. Members of the Order of the Flame turned on their brothers and sisters in favor of the Dark Union, and war had begun. When the battles eventually ended, the Order of the Flame was crushed.

Many of the surviving dragons hid themselves away from the world so that they would be protected from the Dark Union. They went into timeless slumbers where they could rest without aging. Those who did not go into slumber where corrupted by the Dark Union and were turned into mere slaves for their dark overlords. But without the aid of dragons, man was left at the mercy of the Dark Union and all the other dark forces of the world, which began the Fallen Age.

With each passing century, the evil grew stronger and the Dark Union rose to its fullest glory.

But one day, a female warrior named Rynn discovered the resting place of Arokh, a dragon who was once a hero in the Order of the Flame during the Dark Wars. Their souls bonded as one and they worked together to drive the evil back. They had been tasked by the last remnants of the Order of the Flame to open four ancient gates that would reawaken the dragons so they could once again go to war with the Dark Union. Together, they set off to open these gates, but this legend is not about them.

During Rynn and Arokh's battle against the Dark Union's forces, another unlikely hero began to rise…

* * *

It was about mid-winter in the northern hemisphere of the world of Drakan, but nowhere was colder than the tundra and the Northlands just south of it. Within the Northlands, the Northmen lived in small villages with wooden walls surrounding their borders. They needed these walls and well-armed villagers to defend themselves from the yeti and frost grull that wished to kill them.

It was currently snowing within the Northlands and the sun was beginning to set, marking the transition to night. There was a village that settled between two snowy mountains; one to the north and another to the south. This village was known as Pärlby. This village, like the other human villages in the north, was surrounded by wooden walls and possessed a small population of people. All of the houses within the village had lights from fireplaces and candles seeping out of their windows, which gave a rather pretty glint to the falling snowflakes.

Just outside of Pärlby, a lone human man was approaching the village. This man was wearing heavy looking clothes that were made of deer leather and bear fur. A few dead hares were hanging from the man's belt, which he had hunted earlier in the forest. As the man approached the village gate, the man pulled down his leather hood, revealing his bald head and pale skin.

"Ah, there you are, Lykke. I was wondering when you would return." the armed guard at the gate greeted warmly.

Like the other soldiers of Pärlby, this guard was wearing thick leather armor and was carrying a single bladed battle axe. The bald man, now known as Lykke, nodded in greeting as his heated breathe created a light mist around his mouth.

"I wasn't expecting to be out so late. I think the grull are scaring away the hares from my hunting grounds." the bald man replied and he quickly glanced at the game he had brought with him.

"Wouldn't surprise me. Those monsters have always been a nuisance to everybody. Anyway, don't let me keep you. Go on home and enjoy your supper." the guard stated while he gently waved his hand, signaling for him to enter.

The bald once again nodded, this time in thanks, before he walked through the village gates. He pulled his leather hood over his mostly hairless head again to provide some warmth against the freezing cold.

Lykke was about middle-aged and he had particularly bushy eyebrows. His eyes were also gray, which was a striking difference compared to the rest of the villagers. Everyone else either had blue or hazel colored eyes. Most of them also had beards and long hair, which was completely different from him. The reasons for these differences were because he wasn't born in Pärlby. He was born in a village far to the south of the Northlands; a place where leafs on trees were always green and it seldom snowed. He moved up north however because he wanted to explore the world. When he grew older, he ended up settling down in the village of Pärlby.

The man with the hares hanging from his belt stopped when he reached the wooden porch of his house. He could hear muffled crying and he looked at his doorstep to see a bundle of thick blankets resting on his doormat. His gray eyes widened as he quickly lowered to one knee and scooped up the bundle of blankets. As he stood up again, he gently moved some of the blankets to see a newborn baby's crying face.

'Who the hell leaves an infant out in the cold like this!? Were they trying to give this child frostbite!?' the bald man thought to himself with a heavy frown under his warm hood.

Without a second thought, Lykke lightly kicked open his front door and walked inside. He quickly rested the crying infant on his rocking chair in front of the fireplace before he closed the door behind him. He was glad that he chose to place some firewood in the fireplace before he left because he needed to get this child warm as quickly as possible.

"Don't worry, little one. I'll take care of you." the bald man murmured as he pulled some flint out of his pouch and crouched in front of the fireplace.

It didn't take long for him to start a small fire with his flint and he smiled as he felt the warmth of the flames against his face. He placed the two stones into his pouch again before he grabbed a nearby log and gently placed it on top of the flames. He then turned around to look at the baby, who had stopped crying at this point.

Lykke lowered his hood with both hands before he gently picked up the infant. He then sat down in his rocking chair and held it closely. He found himself smiling as the child's brown eyes looked up at him.

"Well, your parents aren't from this village, that's for sure, but I can tell that they were Northmen." the bald man commented as he studied the child's face.

It felt a little wrong doing this, but he needed to check the child's gender. With a quiet sigh, Lykke moved some of the blankets and lowered his eyes. The baby was a boy. Now that he knew this, he quickly covered the child with the blankets again. He quietly watched as the baby closed his eyes and peacefully fell asleep in the protective arms of the hunter.

"I think you will need a name, young one. Hm… never thought I'd be naming a child. How about I name you after my grandfather, Lydrik. Yes… your name is Lydrik." Lykke spoke with a soft smile while he closely held the child, who he promised to raise.

* * *

Nineteen years have passed since the day Lykke adopted the young baby, who was now a grown man. It was currently the middle of the day in Pärlby during the last month of winter. It wasn't snowing that day, which allowed the villagers to go out and perform various tasks. Many of the children played in the snow around their homes while the hunters went out to gather food for the village. The soldiers also patrolled the village gate and the wooden walls that kept outsiders out.

Lydrik was currently chopping firewood with a few other men on the southern edge of town. Lydrik had an average build; neither too muscular nor too skinny. His skin was a little darker than the others in his village, but not too much. His hair was dark brown and went down to his shoulders. He had no facial hair to speak of and his eyes were brown; just like his hair. The young man was wearing some brown leather pants that were tucked into his deerskin boots. He was also wearing a thick leather coat over a white shirt.

This was how Lydrik spent most of his days. He would chop firewood that the loggers brought into the village. Most of the wood he chopped was meant for the others in the village, but he kept some of the firewood for himself and he was paid in gold coins for his efforts. It wasn't the most exciting job in the world, but it satisfied him enough.

The young man and everyone else in the village stopped what they were doing when one of the guards began to ring a large bell that was on top of one of the watch towers. Everyone knew what this meant; they were coming.

The children stopped their playing and ran to their parents' houses while most of the villagers quickly made their way to their houses. Lydrik knew that that Lykke would be angry at him if he stayed out while "they" were at their village.

The young man roughly stuck his splitting axe into a tree stump he used to chop wood before he started to walk home. He stopped in his tracks however when he spotted "them" arriving through the village gate and the guards didn't make a move to stop them. It was too late to go home now. If Lydrik made any sudden moves, he would be killed. All he could do now was stay where he was and keep quiet.

The ones who entered the village were far from human. These creatures were at least a foot taller than average humans and they looked at the remaining villagers with their pitch black eyes. Their skin was bluish-gray and they had patches of gray fur on their muscular bodies to keep them warm. Horns of various shapes could also be seen on their heads and their teeth stuck out of their mouths at all times, pointing upwards. The majority of them were only wearing leather skirts that only served to cover their genital regions. Each one of these creatures were also carrying strange hammers with swirling drills on one end of the weapons. These beasts were the Half-Men; a native species of the tundra to the north.

There was one Half-Man who was even taller than the others, General Sershok. The general was wearing shorts that were made from bear skin and a belt made out of human bones held the leather in place. He also wore spiked bands around his muscular arms and a leather necklace hung from his neck. A human skull was also hanging off the leather necklace. Large ram horns were protruding from the muscular creature's head and like the others of his kind, his eyes were pitch black. Two, tusk-like teeth peeked out of his mouth and pointed upwards. Lastly, a spiked morning star that was made out of black iron could be seen sheathed to his belt.

General Sershok snorted as he eyed all of the villagers. Everyone in the village, including Lydrik, knew to respect this Half-Man. That skull on his necklace was the skull of his first kill and he wore it to show that he had killed humans before. The general was known for being bloodthirsty, even towards his own people.

Soon after the Half-Men arrived, one of the village elders quickly approached the general, who watched the old man approach him. Once he was right in front of the Half-Man, the elder slowly held up a coin purse.

Lydrik watched with disgust as General Sershok took the bag of coins. This happened every two months. The Half-Men would arrive and demand protection money. It wasn't like the Half-Men protected their village; they would simply leave the village once they received their gold and not bother them for awhile. He didn't even understand why they needed gold. They never traded with humans. Pärlby was one of the few human settlements that the Half-Men didn't attack on sight, which was enough for the villagers not to resist the Half-Men's demands.

The young man wiped the look of disgust off his face and it was replaced with worry when he noticed the general looking right at him. He immediately lowered his head as he heard the Half-Man's footsteps in the snow coming closer to him. Soon enough, he could feel the beast's warm breath brush past his face.

"It has been some time since I last saw you, whelp." the general spoke with a deep, rumbling voice.

General Sershok knew Lydrik by name, but he preferred to refer to the human as "whelp" instead of his name. When Lydrik was eight years old and the Half-Men arrived to retrieve their protection money, the young boy thought it would be funny to throw a snowball at one of the Half-Men despite the other children's warnings. Unfortunately, his snowball just happened to hit General Sershok right in the face.

Lydrik was immediately caught and the general threatened to publicly castrate the poor boy. Thankfully, Lykke came out of his home and convinced the general to spare his adopted son, but the village had to pay three times the amount of money they usually had to pay that day. Ever since then, the general almost always confronted Lydrik before he and the other Half-Men left.

"You're not still playing with snowballs, are you, whelp?" the large Half-Man questioned as his black eyes narrowed.

"No, sir." Lydrik answered with a shaky voice as he kept his head low; the last thing he wanted to do was anger the general.

He hasn't played with snowballs ever since that day. When he was younger, he wouldn't even participate in snowball fights with his friends because of that traumatizing experience.

"Good." General Sershok snorted before he turned around and walked over at the other villagers who had failed to enter their homes before the Half-Men arrived. "We expect twice as much pay from now on!" he suddenly boomed as he looked over at the village elder who paid him.

"What!? General, we are barely scraping by as it is. What do you even need our money for anyway?" the village elder questioned with shock in his voice.

"Watch your tongue, human. You might lose it." General Sershok growled as he glared at the elder with his black eyes. "I don't care if you can't afford to piss in pots; we need your money for our troops. If your little village can't pay your debts, then we will take your people for forced labor. Those who are too young, old, or weak will be fed to the yeti." he informed everyone with a snarl.

The village elder went silent upon hearing this and everyone watched as the general led the Half-Men back through the village gates and into the forest without another word. Once they were all gone, many of the villagers came out of their homes to resume what they were doing before the Half-Men came.

Lydrik sighed heavily as he went back to the tree stump where he was chopping wood. He took his time scooping up the firewood he had chopped and he proceeded to walk home. When he reached his home's front steps, he lightly nudged the door open with his boot and walked inside.

"Pa! I'm home!" the young man called out as he placed eh wood on a rack near the fireplace.

Lydrik knew that Lykke wasn't his real father, but if felt right to refer to him as such. He loved Lykke as a father and nothing would ever change that.

The nineteen year old took his leather coat off at that point and sat down on the wooden chair near the fireplace. He heard footsteps coming down from the stairs on the other side of the house and he looked over his shoulder to see Lykke coming down the steps.

The bald man's face was much more wrinkled than when he first found Lydrik and his eyebrows have gone white. Due to his age, he wasn't able to hunt for the village anymore, but he enjoyed telling stories to the local children about his adventures in his youth.

"Why weren't you home when the Half-Men arrived?" Lykke asked with a frown as he slowly walked over to the fireplace and sat down in his rocking chair.

"I'm sorry, pa. They got here before I could reach home." his adopted son answered with an apologetic frown.

"I don't like you being out when the Half-Men are here. If those ugly things were to hurt you… I don't know what I would do." the old man sighed and he looked at the crackling fire.

"The Half-Men are demanding twice as much gold now." the young man informed with a heavy frown, knowing that his father would want to know this.

"Are you serious? Our village can't pay that kind of money on a regular basis… Oh, I wish you and I didn't have to live like this… at their mercy, but I'm too old to travel. But if you wanted to… you could leave." he added softly.

"I'm not leaving, pa. Especially not without you. This is our home." Lydrik stated quickly, not liking the direction this conversation was going.

The old man sighed heavily at this as he stared at the warm fire in the fireplace. Even though he's only spent half of his life in this village, he did consider it his home, but there were things he felt he needed to tell his adopted son.

"You know… I came to Pärlby for a reason. When I was younger and I first arrived at the shores of the Northlands, an old sailor told me of a place that is not that far from this village." Lykke continued, ignoring his son's comment. "That sailor told me that to the east of Pärlby, there is a cave that is rumored to house a dragon, but not one of those simple blackwing dragons that mindlessly kill anything in their territory. I am talking about a dragon of the Elder Breed." he explained before he slowly turned to look at his adopted son.

"A dragon of the Elder Breed? You mean… from the children's stories? The legends of the Order of the Flame? Have you ever found this cave" the young man asked with wide eyes, clearly astonished by what he was hearing.

"Now calm down and let me finish." his bald father stated with a light chuckle. "Yes, the Elder Breed was with the Order of the Flame and fought in the Dark Wars. But you see, once I finally found this village, I was too old to go searching for the cave. This cave is exactly east of this village and I was told that it would be impossible to miss. Now… son… I would never force anything onto you, but I think you should pick up where I left off… and search for this cave. I know you may not want to, but a dragon of the Elder Breed might be just what this world needs. You may think that we have it bad in this village with the Half-Men harassing us, but other places are actually suffering much worse than us. I've seen such places. I'm not asking you to fight with this dragon against the dark forces; I don't expect you to, but this one dragon could change everything." he informed his son with a completely serious tone of voice.

Lydrik went silent as he listened to his father. He couldn't believe the surreality of what he was hearing. The thought of going to such a place and awakening a slumbering dragon terrified him. He's never been outside of the village, not even to hunt. He worked to chop firewood for the village of all things and he didn't know how to hunt or fight. He was about to say how he didn't want to do this, but he stopped himself when he saw Lykke staring at him with an almost pleading look. Even though this was the last thing he wanted to do, he could tell that this was important to his father.

"Pa, if I do… find this dragon… I won't have to go out and fight, right? I won't have to fight in any wars or battles?" the young man asked nervously.

"No… you don't have to fight in any wars. The most you will have to fight is maybe a wondering spider or two at best; and possibly pay a grull bandit or something. I can supply you with clothes, food, gold to pay off bandits, and even a weapon." Lykke replied before he slowly stood up and walked over to a weapon case. "Now, it may not look like much, but this has saved my life on more than one occasion." he spoke with a soft smile as he took the weapon out of the case and turned around so his adopted son could see it.

A small axe was resting in the bald man's wrinkled hands. The weapon looked more like a hatchet than an axe, but the blade looked sharp and it was made out of iron. The axe's handle was made from wood and leather strips wrapped around the handle where the wielder would hold it.

Lydrik eyed the small axe for a few moments before he gently took it out of his father's grasp and held it with both hands. He was then handed a leather sheath for his new axe by his father.

"It is not too late to back out if you don't wish to do this. Are you sure you wish to follow through with this?" Lykke questioned with complete seriousness in his voice.

The young man slowly looked down at his adoptive father's axe as he thought about this. This wasn't something he wanted to do, but then he remembered the Half-Men's earlier demands and how his village had to pay twice as much gold. If he awakened this dragon, it might defend his village from the Half-Men.

"Yes… I'm going to find this dragon." Lydrik assured with a nod, earning a smile from his father.


	2. A Frozen Flame

**Kwai kwai everyone! It seems like this story has gained some positive attention, I'm happy about that. I have a lot of things planned for this story and I think you readers will like it. Remember to leave a review or send me a PM!**

Chapter 2: A Frozen Flame

It began to lightly snow in the Northlands of Drakan by the time it was midday. Lydrik had just made his way through the village gates and he walked away from the village without looking back. Some of the guards gave him a strange look, knowing that he's never left the village before, but none of them stopped his progress. They figured that Lykke sent him out for a good reason.

The traveling Northman was still wearing his leather pants and boots as before, but he was now wearing a long coat that was made out of sheep skin with a fur inside. He also wore some thick gloves that were made out of the same materials as his jacket. Lykke's axe was strapped to the young man's belt and also had an iron dagger tucked in his right boot. A coin purse could lightly be heard jingling in his coat pocket and was carrying a rucksack made of thick cloth. The rucksack on his back held some food for his trip, some extra clothes, a blanket, some flint, and some unlit torches.

The young man sighed quietly as he walked down a snowed over trail and his brown hair flowed with the wind blowing past him. His adoptive father told him that it would take him about two days to reach the cave with the slumbering dragon, but that was only if the weather permitted it and he kept walking throughout the day without interruption.

For hours, Lydrik walked and his feet became sore from the constant walking, but he kept going. He wanted to reach this cave as soon as possible. When the sun began to set and his belly growled however, he finally decided to rest. The long haired man thankfully found a cave near the path he was taking and he approached the entrance.

"Hello!? Are there any bears in here!?" he called out, almost jokingly.

When nothing replied, Lydrik took it upon himself to enter the cave with his father's axe at the ready just in case. He sighed in relief when nothing attacked him and the cave seemed to be no larger than his bedroom back at Pärlby. There were also the remains of a long extinguished campfire in the center of the cave.

Throughout the afternoon, the young man collected some dry wood around the forest outside the cave and used it to start a small fire in the cave he would be spending the night in. The sun had completely set once the fire was crackling and the sky went dark.

Lydrik had seated himself near the fire once he was certain that it would continue to burn and he was currently eating a loaf of bread. His head perked up however when he heard the sound of something walking in the snow outside the cave he was in. He didn't take his eyes off the cave entrance as he put down his bread and stood up. Cautiously, he walked over to the mouth of the cave and slowly unsheathed his small axe.

"Who's out there!?" the young man called out while he walked into the open and he carefully looked around.

There was no reply and Lydrik's shoulders slouched as he tried to see through the darkness of the night. He let out a quiet sigh before he turned around to head back inside, but he was startled when he saw something standing directly in front of him. He gasped loudly upon seeing the creature and he quickly backed up.

"Boo!" the creature laughed as it walked into the moonlight.

The creature that startled Lydrik was a grull and two others stepped into the open. The grull were a humanoid race that served the Dark Union during the Dark Wars almost six hundred years ago. Since the end of the Dark Wars, the grull have been working as soldiers for non-human factions and bandits throughout the globe. They were also known for being pagans, but their gods required human sacrifices, which didn't sit well with any human captives they caught.

The grull's skin was rather leathery and their skin tones were usually either a muddy yellow color or a brownish red. Their backs were always slouched as well and their teeth tended to stick out of their large mouths. These monsters also had milky white eyes and they lacked noses, but they did have nostrils near their eyes. Two long ears that were full of hair poked out from the sides of their heads, which gave them excellent hearing. Like most grull who lived in the Northlands, this group of three were wearing thick clothes that were made from earth colored cloth. Each member of this group were wearing blue vests as well and they were armed with large meat cleavers; one blade for each of them.

"Human, I no say you use road or cave to sleep. You owe fine now! All your gold, or your hide!" the only grull with yellow skin spoke; it was obvious that he wasn't skilled with the speaking in the human language.

"Okay, relax… I don't want any trouble. I have gold to pay off my fine." Lydrik assured with an uneased voice.

Slowly, the young man reached into his coat pocket and took out the coin purse that his father gave him. The three grull chuckled as they eyed the back and the human slowly held out his hand.

"Take it. It's all I have. Just please, don't hurt me." the human told them as the yellow skinned grull plucked the bag of coin out of his hand.

"Good human. You use road for now. And you keep your hide." the grull leader laughed before he began to walk off.

The two grull with reddish skin eyed the human for a few seconds before they followed their leader into the wild. The young man sighed quietly and made his way back into his cave and out of the snow. That transaction went much more smoothly than he expected it to. He planned on finishing his dinner before going to bed. He wanted to wake up early in the morning so he could continue on his journey.

* * *

Lydrik had trouble sleeping after the small ordeal with the three bandits. Not only did the unfamiliarity of the place he was sleeping in unnerve him, but he was also paranoid that the grull would come back for him. All of this proved to be too much for him to sleep, so he ended up putting out the fire and heading out before the son even rose.

The young man spent the whole day walking down the snowy path and he only stopped once to eat some breakfast. Occasionally, he would look around the area he was traveling in. The wilderness on both sides of the path was very thick and the cloudy sky brought snow down to the land. The various mountain ranges were rather easy to see over the tall trees. The occasional birdcall and flying blackwing dragon in the sky were the only sings of life that Lydrik could find so far, but he didn't mind that. The birds soothed his nervousness and the black feathered dragons wouldn't attack him so long as he didn't trespass on their mountains.

After awhile, the human traveler noticed something on the side of a mountain ahead of him. He squinted his brown eyes to get a better look at what was ahead and he smiled lightly at what he saw. A large cave with jagged stalactites at the entrance protruding front the top of the entrance could be seen at the end of the path he was on. There was also a lit torch on both sides of the mouth of the cave that appeared to have blue flames instead of normal yellow-orange fire.

It didn't take Lydrik long to reach the cave entrance and he found himself staring in awe at the size of the opening alone. Slowly, he walked into the cave and out of the cold wind from outside. The walls of the cave smooth, gray rock while the ceiling was riddled with sharp looking stalactites. The ground was mostly dirt and dust, but there were occasional rocks sticking out of the ground.

There were also more torches with blue flames, similar to the two that were outside. This cave looked like it's been abandoned for centuries, so the young Northman couldn't comprehend how those fires were still burning.

"At least I have some light…" Lydrik mumbled quietly to himself.

The young man made sure to follow the torches along the walls and he found himself walking down a surprisingly well lit corridor. Slowly, he went deeper into the cave and his eyes darted around as he went, expecting something to jump out and attack him. Luckily, nothing attacked him. He noticed that the corridor he was in was rather large and was heading downwards.

After awhile, Lydrik walked through an open doorway that was large enough for a herd of cattle to pass through. The chamber he was now in was massive, which surprised the young Northman greatly.

The room he was in was circular in shape and the blue flamed torches let the area rather well. The first thing Lydrik noticed was the statue of a dragon on the far end of the room. At first, he was scared of the statue, but he quickly calmed himself when he realized that it was merely a statue and wouldn't attack him.

In the center of the chamber, a strange altar with four spikes jutting upwards could be seen. The black spires were black in color, possibly made form obsidian, and it had a stone base in the center of the four spikes.

A table that was chiseled from stone could be seen in front of the altar. As the young traveler approached the table, he spotted an iron box with rusted chains wrapped around it. He could also see a stone tablet with some writing on it. From what he could see, the writing was chiseled into the tablet, but the dust made it a little hard to read. Without a second thought, he wiped the dust off of the tablet with his coat's sleeve. Once the dust was cleared, he began to read it aloud.

"Only the blood of a human may gain access to the soul crystal. The rider must cut into the flesh of their palm and present their blood in order to initiate 'The Bond.'" the young Northman read with a frown. "Is this thing trying to get me to cut myself?" he mumbled quietly to himself.

With only silence to answer his question, Lydrik let out a quiet sigh. He crouched down and pulled his iron dagger out of his boot before he stood up again. He gently placed the weapon on the table before he took off his left glove and stuffed it into his pocket inside his coat.

'I must be crazy for doing this.' the young traveler thought to himself as he picked up the dagger with his right hand.

With a deep breath, Lydrik quickly ran the blade across his left palm and he winced as a bleeding cut was left behind. He then rested his wounded hand on the box in front of him. As soon as the blood touched the chest, an audible click was heard, which startled the young man. He let out a gasp and he pulled his hand away when the chains on the box began to disintegrate into ashes. Once the chains were nothing but dust, the box slowly opened by itself.

Lydrik has never seen anything like that before; he's only heard stories of magic from his father. To see it for himself was quite astounding for him. But he realized that he had to tend to his wound, so he looked down to check the damage.

To the young man's great surprise, his wound had healed without him even realizing it. There wasn't a single trace of a cut left behind on his palm and even the blood was gone. There wasn't even a scar. It was as if he never cut himself to begin with.

"Remarkable." the Northman murmured with amazement as he placed his dagger back into his book while he stared at his left palm.

Once he recalled the tablet's transcript, Lydrik looked away from his hand and into the iron box. Inside, a hand sized crystal that reflected a blue shine under the right light could be seen. Slowly, he picked up the crystal with his bare hand, but he gasped as the it flew out of his grip by itself as soon as he pulled it out of the box.

The blue crystal flew over to the nearby altar and floated in the air between the four spikes. The young man's mouth was left slightly agape as he stared at the magical crystal with wonder. He soon looked back at the box and he was surprised to see yet another tablet. He carefully picked up the slab of stone with both hands and he noticed that it had a single sentence on it.

"By the fire and by blood, I join with thee in the Order of the Flame?" Lydrik read more as a question than a statement.

As soon as the unsuspecting man read that, the magical crystal began to emit some kind of humming noise. He quickly looked up at the crystal at the altar and his eyes widened as lightning began to crackle around the altar's spires. The energy soon began to channel into his chest, yet it didn't hurt him.

Lydrik let out a panicked scream as his body was effortlessly lifted multiple feet into the air and his chest stuck out uncomfortably. More lightning began to shoot out of the altar, but this new energy was shooting into the dragon statue's chest, causing the whole stone structure to crack loudly.

In mere moments, the energy shooting into Lydrik's chest became almost unbearably painful. He felt tears come to his eyes and he screamed as a loud explosion was heard. As soon as it came however, the pain vanished and the young man was dropped onto the ground.

The terrified Northman landed with an audible thump and he groaned as he lied limp on the ground cold ground. Once his senses began to return to him, he felt that something was off. The room was much colder than it was mere moments ago and he found himself shivering despite the heavy clothes he was wearing. He also heard deep breathing coming from the other side of the altar.

Breathing!

Lydrik's eyes quickly open upon realizing this and his head shot up almost painfully. He let out a terrified gasp at what he saw staring directly at him. The statue from before was no longer there, but pieces of stone were now littering the floor of the large chamber. Instead, a live dragon was standing on the other side of the altar.

The dragon was massive, easily bigger than him or any animal he's ever seen. The mighty beast was staring at him with light blue eyes that had black slitted pupils. Its hide was covered in deep blue scales and it possessed a black underbelly. On its back, powerful wings could be seen tucked by the dragon's sides and the wing membranes were light gray. Six gray horns crowned the beast's head and light blue skin connected the three horns on each side of its head. Sharp teeth could also be seen sticking out of its mouth; some teeth pointed upwards while some others pointed down. It also seemed like the cold air was radiating off of this dragon.

"Human… you have awakened me from my eternal slumber! Why!?" the dragon boomed as it walked around the altar and stood over the human, who was still lying on his back on the ground.

Lydrik didn't reply, he just stared up at the dragon with fear in his eyes. He was too frightened to reply. The dragon's voice was deep because of its large lungs and it had a commanding tone to its voice. But strangely enough, he interpreted the voice as female.

"Answer me, human!" the dragoness boomed as her eyes narrowed threateningly.

"I a-awoke you because my father sent me here. He told me that the world needed a dragon of the Elder Breed." the young man answered shakily as he held his ungloved hand up protectively.

"Do you even realize what you've done, boy? You performed the Bond! Of all humans to be bonded to, it had to be a scared little boy like yourself." the blue dragoness snarled with anger in her deep voice.

"B-bonded?" Lydrik asked shakily as he looked up at her intimidating blue eyes, which made him feel so small compared to her.

"You really don't know what you've done… The Bond is an ancient ritual between knights of the Order and dragons of the Elder Breed." the dragoness began to explain as she lowered her head so her snout was almost touching his face. "The Bond binds the knight's soul with the dragon, which creatures a single soul for them both to share. That means that our souls are one. To think… my soul is bonded with a simple farm boy." she scoffed with resentment in her voice.

"I… I didn't know this would happen…" the young man whimpered as he felt a cold chill run up his spine from both fear and her cold breath.

"Of course you didn't, but now I'm stuck with you." the dragoness growled before she finally pulled her head away and she lied down in front of him. "What is your name, boy?" she demanded harshly.

"L-Lydrik." the frightened human answered as he slowly sat up.

"I suppose I'll have to remember that if we are going to be stuck together. I am Pebona. I'm an ice dragon." she introduced before she exhaled a small white cloud out of her nostrils.

'That explains the cold.' the young man thought to himself as he watched the white mist she exhaled, which greatly reminded him of snow.

"Well, runt... I need to figure out what's been going on since my absence. You'll have to come with me. Wouldn't want to have you get kill by a smelly grull or something." Pebona spoke as she stood up. "Get on my back." she ordered suddenly.

"What…?" Lydrik asked with a surprised tone of voice.

"Get on my back, boy. I want to fly and you're coming with me." the blue scaled dragoness said more sternly and she lowered her body so it would be easier for him to get on.

The young human gulped nervously before he slowly approached the dragon, who kept staring at him with those blue eyes of hers. Hesitantly, he lifted his right leg and just barely swung it over her slender body before he rested on her back near her shoulder blades. He swore, if he wasn't wearing such thick clothes, her cold scales would've sent chills throughout his body.

"Wrap your arms around my neck and lean forward. Your puny arms won't interfere with my breathing." she instructed once he was seated.

Lydrik nervously did just as she instructed and wrapped his arms around her neck. Once Pebona knew that he wouldn't fall off, she began to walk towards the large doorway he entered from. She could feel him hold onto her neck more tightly when she started moving, but she didn't mind.

The ice dragoness quickly made her way up the passage and towards the mouth of the cave. She didn't waste any time going outside and into the cold, fresh air. Lydrik had to blink a few times to get his eyes adjusted to the light of outside, but her eyes quickly adjusted. She let out a pleased growl from the back of her throat as she stretched her light gray wings.

"It feels so good to finally stretch my aching wings. Now, where is your home, boy?" Pebona questioned as she lightly flapped her wings to get the blood flowing in them again.

"It is to the west of here… ma'am…" Lydrik replied respectively, not wanting to get the dragon angry.

"Just call me Pebona." the ice dragoness stated quickly, but she enjoyed his fearful flattery.

With a strong flap of her strong wings, Pebona flew towards the west with her human on her back. As they flew, Lydrik held onto her neck for dear life and even screamed in fear as she flew higher and higher into the sky. Neither of them realized however that a party of Half-Men was watching them from the distance. The one leading the group of Half-Men was none other than General Sershok and he wasn't pleased with what he just saw.

"Sir, was that that whelp you hate so much on that dragon's back?" one of the Half-Men with small ram horns asked.

"Yes, I believe it was…" the general replied with a growl before he turned around to face his men. "Change of plans, we're not going to attack Ravenshold. We're going back to Shiverbane to inform Chief Maulgak that we may be dealing with another dragon of the Order." he spoke bitterly and his black eyes narrowed angrily.

"What about the two Desert Lords? Should we tell them too?" a Half-Man with spikes running along his head questioned curiously.

"I'm sure Maulgak will confront those two before I even have a chance to speak to them. It wouldn't surprise me if those Desert Lords already know about this dragon. Now, let's head out before the damned whelp and that dragon decide to try something." General Sershok told them all.

With that said, the general and his Half-Men warriors began their trek back to their homeland within the tundra. The awakening of this new dragon complicated their plans.


	3. Catching Up

**Kwai kwai nidobak! For those of you who haven't played the Drakan games, this chapter will explain some of the lore behind the game. There is a lot of lore involved in the world of Drakan, so I hope this will cover most of the basics. At any rate, remember to leave a review or send me a PM!**

Chapter 3: Catching up

Lydrik held onto his new dragon companion for dear life as they soared through the cold air of the Northlands. The snow had stopped falling at this point and they had a clear view of the mountainous landscape. Even some of the clouds had cleared away, giving them a clear view of the red-orange planet and the sun in the sky. The human had also stopped screaming due to the sudden flight, but he was still terrified that he would fall off the dragon at any moment.

"Is that your village below!?" Pebona yelled over the cold wind as she spotted a small village between two mountains.

The young Northman gulped and craned his neck to look down at the ground below. His heart skipped a beat when he saw that they were practically above the clouds, but he could in fact see his village below. The wooden buildings and walls surrounding the village stuck out amongst the white snow of the landscape surrounding it.

"Yes! That's Pärlby!" he answered loudly with a nod even though she wasn't looking at him.

Without a word, Pebona sharply dived downward and Lydrik started screaming in fear as she soared straight towards the village directly below them. The cold air sharply flew past his face and the wind caused his hair to whip around behind his head.

Most of the villagers looked up in confusion when they heard the screams, but many of them grew terrified when they saw the dragon flying straight towards them. Some of them even started to scream in fear as they rushed for their homes and the village guards quickly notched their bows and aimed their crossbows just in case the dragon chose to attack their home.

At the last possible second, the ice dragoness pulled upwards and flapped her mighty wings as she gently landed in the center of the village. The guards immediately lowered their weapons when they saw Lydrik on the dragoness' back and some of the villagers peaked out of their homes to get a look at the two arrivals.

Lydrik shakily got off of the dragon and almost stumbled into the snow as he stood on his own. He quickly brushed some of his brown hair out of his face and looked up to see that most of the villagers had exited their homes and were staring at Pebona with awe and some with fear. He then noticed that the village elder, who paid the Half-Men their protection money the other day, approach them with Lykke at his side. He noticed that his father was wearing a heavy furred coat to keep him warm and a thick scarf was wrapped around his neck.

"Father…" the young man sighed as his tense muscles relaxed and the two old men stopped in front of him and the ice dragoness.

"My boy, you've done it. You've awakened a dragon of the Elder Breed." the bald man spoke proudly with a smile and he rested a gloved hand on his adopted son's shoulder, making him smile back.

"So, you are the one who sent this farm boy to find me." Pebona commented as her blue eyes narrowed slightly. "I was hoping that someone more… warrior-like would awaken me." she added.

"Yes, I sent my son to awaken you. I apologize if your expectations weren't met, but my son was your best chance of awakening." the bald man apologized to the dragoness and he bowed his head in respect.

"Lykke, I've told you that awakening a dragon of the Elder Breed would only bring troubles to Pärlby." the village elder said with anger in his voice as he turned to look at the bald man standing next to him. "Now that someone from our village has awakened a dragon, the Half-Men will surely try to kill us now. I thought I told you to give up this foolish quest when you first came to our home." he explained with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Hm, I am unfamiliar with these Half-Men you speak of." Pebona admitted as her slitted pupils darted between the two old humans.

"We both know that the human race needs the dragons in order to survive these dark times. You heard what General Sershok said; he'd kill us and turn the rest into slaves eventually. At least with a dragon, we have a chance of defending ourselves." Lykke argued harshly, ignoring the dragoness' comment.

"Pa… I need to tell you something." Lydrik interjected as he stepped between his father and the village elder.

"Huh? What is it, my son?" the bald man questioned curiously, all hostility draining from his voice.

"When I awoke this dragon… er… Pebona, she told me that we 'Bonded' and that our souls are mixed as one." the young man explained and it was obvious that he was displeased by this.

"You two Bonded!?" Lykke practically yelled in surprise and he looked at the blue scaled dragoness for confirmation.

"That is correct, human. One must perform the Bond in order to awaken a dragon in a timeless slumber. I suppose that I'm safe to assume that neither of you realized this." Pebona stated as she looked at the two distraught humans.

"And now Lydrik is a knight of the Order, whether he wants to be or not." the village elder commented with a tired sigh, knowing that the young man wasn't at all ready for something like this.

"Father, you told me that I wouldn't have to go and fight if I did this for you. You told me that all I had to do was awaken the dragon." Lydrik spoke with a worried tone of voice and his legs became wobbly with fear.

"I didn't know this would happen… I'm sorry." Lykke replied sadly as he looked into his son's brown eyes with his own gray orbs.

In an attempt to make his son feel better, the bald man approached his son and wrapped his arms around him in a warm embrace. He didn't care that everyone in the village was watching them; he just hated seeing his son so frightened. It seemed like entire minutes passed before they released each other and the old man looked at his son with pity in his eyes.

"Well, what's done is done, as much as I would like to change it. I am Bonded to Lydrik, so now he has to come with me, but we'll discuss that later. Right now, I'm more interested in these Half-Men you spoke of earlier." the ice dragoness spoke up, gaining the humans' attention.

"The Half-Men are ruthless beasts from the northern Tundra, which they named Shiverbane. They're a beastly race that pray on us humans of the Northlands." the village elder started with a heavy frown. "They don't rely on magic at all, but they are one of the most technologically advanced species in the Northlands, possibly even the world. They have been demanding protection money from my people for as long as I can remember. I fear that now that you're awake, dragon, they will attempt to kill us all." he sighed at the end.

"Then why don't we just flee. There's got to be a safer place." Lydrik spoke up and he bit his lower lip nervously.

"And go where? Ravenshold won't take us in because they are at war with the Half-Men and can't spare food or shelter on our behalf. The wizard, Zeggoro, refuses to help those who disturb him at his tower unless it benefits him; and the city of Surdana is too far. We're on our own out here." the elder replied sharply.

"Then fight back. Get your best warriors and defend your land." Pebona stated as if that was the most obvious choice.

"It's not that simple. We only have a few warriors and we are technically on the Half-Men's land." Lykke replied sadly and with little hope in his voice.

"Ah but you forget, I am a dragon of the Order and I am capable of breathing ice. As advanced as these Half-Men are, I doubt that they can stand up to a dragon such as myself." the ice dragoness said and she puffed her black scaled chest out confidently.

"That is true… you are of the Elder Breed. And I could teach some of the hunters how to properly fight. I learned a lot about fighting in my youth when I was an adventurer." the bald human commented as he rubbed his chin in thought.

"I don't like the sound of this… but we'll all die or worse if we don't defend ourselves. Lykke, I give you my permission to train our hunters and anyone else who wishes to fight. Men and woman alike." The village elder stated hesitantly before he turned around and walked away without a word.

"Pa… does this mean I will have to fight too?" Lydrik asked hesitantly as he looked over at his father.

Lykke sighed heavily and nodded regrettably. He didn't want his son to go out and fight, but considering how he was now Bonded with this dragon and that their home was at risk, he wouldn't have a choice.

"Dragon?" the bald human asked as he looked up at Pebona. "Please protect my son when the time comes. He's all I have in this world." he practically pleaded as he locked his eyes with the dragoness'.

"Those filthy beasts won't kill him, I promise you that." Pebona promised, but mostly just because they were bonded together.

"Thank you… that means a lot to me. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some new students." Lykke sighed as he turned around to face all the villagers.

Lydrik watched with a frown as his father approached the various hunters and other villagers who wanted to fight to defend their home. He hated that the Half-Men were more than likely going to attack his home just because HE awakened a dragon of the Elder Breed. He couldn't help but blame himself for his peoples hardships.

"Get on my back, boy." Pebona's voice brought the young man out of his thought and he quickly turned around to face the female dragon he was Bonded to.

"Why?" the young man asked with a slight crack in his voice.

"If you are going to be my rider, then you'll have to get used to flying. Besides, your leader mentioned a wizard. Even if he doesn't help your village, he might be able to answer some of my questions. Who knows, he might even be able to teach you a spell or two. If you're gonna be a weak farm boy, the least you can do is throw a few fireballs from a safe distance." the ice dragoness explained calmly and she lowered her body to make it easier to get on.

Lydrik sighed quietly before he slowly approached the dragon and carefully swung his leg over her body. He then rested on her back and she raised her body again. She then spread her light gray wings and took to the sky with a few mighty flaps.

The young Northman held on tightly as she hovered in the air and looked down at the villagers, who were all staring at them with mixed expressions

"Where can I find this wizard?" Pebona questioned as she looked over at Lydrik.

"Head south from here. He lives in a big tower, you can't miss it." the bald man answered immediately. "And son… I'm sorry that you are in this position. I love you." He told Lydrik with a sad smile.

"I love you too, father…" the young man replied while he frowned and he tightly held onto Pebona so he wouldn't fall off.

The ice dragoness nodded before she quickly flew upwards with her human on her back. Once they were high enough for her liking, she began to glide southward, only flapping her wings when necessary. Lydrik was still terrified from being this high in the air and he didn't dare look down. He heard a sort of growl from Pebona as she flew, but it sounded sort of like a chuckle.

Pebona didn't know how far south this wizard's tower was, but she assumed that it wouldn't be too difficult to find since very few towers were in the Northlands. For now, she was content with peacefully flying through the cold skies with her obviously terrified rider safely on her back.

Luckily, none of the blackwings paid the new dragon any mind, possibly because they were flying so high in the air. This gave them a chance to admire the snowy landscape below them. Various mountains and rivers were sculpted into the region and evergreen trees provided some color. If it wasn't for the blackwings, grull, wartoks, and yeti that inhabited the wilderness, it would've been a pretty nice place to live.

After a long flight, the dragon and human spotted something in the distance. Two flat topped mountains with a natural bridge could be seen on both sides of a river and both mountains were white with snow. A manmade tower was resting on one of the mountains and it appeared to be made out of dark colored wood and stone. The tower was tipped with a point and judging by its height, it appeared to have multiple floors.

"That must be that wizard's tower! I'm taking us down!" Pebona shouted over the cold wind.

With that said, the ice dragoness dived downwards, but not straight down like last time. Lydrik tightly held onto her neck as she swooped down and gracefully landed on the natural skybridge connecting the two mountains. Once they had landed, she began to approach the tower, making the snow crunch under her paws in the process.

As they drew closer to the tower, they noticed a wooden door in the front of the building and it swung open when they got close. An old man gingerly stepped out of the tower with his hands clasped behind his back and he looked at his visitors with a blank expression.

This old man was no doubt Zeggoro, the Wizard. He wore black clothes and gloves under some red cloth covering his chest and stomach. He also donned a red cape that hung from his pointed shoulder pads. The old man's head was mostly covered in the same black cloth that most of his clothes were made out of and the only portions of his skin that was visible was his ears and face. The man had a thick white mustache under his wide nose and his face was wrinkled with age.

"I am Zeggoro. Like always, I'm assuming you've come here for a reason." the wizard introduced with a high pitched voice.

"Yes, we have. I have been in the Sleep of Ages since the end of the Dark Wars and I wish to know what has changed since my awakening." Pebona replied sharply as she looked down at the wise looking man.

"Ah, a dragon of the Elder Breed. At the very least, this conversation won't be boring. I will start by saying you have been asleep for six hundred years." Zeggoro stated casually, as if he was discussing the weather.

"Six hundred years!? I've been asleep for six centuries!?" the ice dragoness practically screeched, making Lydrik flinch as he rested on her back.

"Yes. Six centuries; definitely longer than I've been alive." the wizard said as he rested his hands by his sides. "Now, when you're done with your useless state of shock, I'm assuming you'll wish to know what has happened while you were asleep; as you previously stated." he added simply.

Pebona glared at the wizard and struggled to resist the urge to growl at him. Instead, she simply nodded.

"Very well. After the Dark Wars, the Order of the Flame and Dark Union were both weakened significantly, but the Dark Union was able to regain their strength. The Order of the Flame wasn't able to do this. The only stronghold of the Order left in the world is the City of Surdana, to the south, but I'm sure you already know where the city is. You should also be aware that after the end of the Dark Wars, a new race invaded our world." Zeggoro started before he pointed at the red-orange planet in the sky above. "This new race hails from the planet we can see every day, Sessool. The ones who came here are referred to as the Desert Lords. They're a ghastly race who I like less and less with each century." he explained casually.

"I didn't know that the Desert Lords were from another world…" Lydrik mumbled under his breath as he stared at the planet looking down at them.

"Yes, not many people are aware of that fact. The Desert Lords are not native to our planet in the slightest. If they didn't wish for our enslavement, I would be enlightened to ask them how they came to Drakan." the old man replied as he briefly glanced at Sessool above them.

"So, these Desert Lords are a threat then. What of the Dark Union? Are they working together?" the ice dragoness questioned curiously.

"Yes and no. Most of the Dark Union operates independently from the Desert Lords, but others have aligned themselves with the Desert Lords instead. For example, most of the grull and wartoks are loyal to the Desert Lords while the succubi and trogs to the far south remain independent." Zeggoro answered with a casual tone of voice.

"I see…" Pebona mumbled before she went into deep thought.

"If there is nothing else you require, I will return to my work inside." the wizard commented before he began to turn around.

"Wait! I wish to make a request regarding my… Bonded." the dragoness growled the last word and the old man stopped to look at them again. "He is completely defenseless and I don't want to completely babysit him. Could you teach him a spell so that he is somewhat useful?" she questioned.

Lydrik frowned at the dragoness' hurtful words and he looked away. He didn't want to say this to make himself look weak in front of her, but her words really hurt his feelings and made him doubt himself.

"Normally, I wouldn't do this, but I will if you do something for me, dragon." Zeggoro stated; it was unclear if he didn't hear her insults towards her rider or just didn't care.

"And what would that entail, wizard?" Pebona asked with a raised eye ridge.

"A band of wartoks and grull have been getting rather close to my tower recently and I'm afraid they might try to force their way into my home. I would go out and take care of them myself, but that would leave my tower unprotected…" the old man started casually.

"Say no more. I will search the area and kill these monsters for you while you teach my Bonded." the ice dragoness spoke quickly; she was looking forward to using her breath attacks once more.

"Very good. We will await your return." Zeggoro replied simply before he turned around and walked into his tower.

Lydrik glanced at the dragoness for a moment before he got off of her back and quickly entered the tower without looking at her. He didn't want to be around her right now. Once they were both inside, Pebona spread her light gray wings and took flight, leaving the two humans to their magic and training.


	4. Pliable Fate

**Kwai kwai nidobak! Concerning some reviews I have received recently, I would like to say that if any of you readers are going to write a review, it would be preferable if you wrote it in English. It's a little annoying when I have to go to an internet translator just to figure out what people are saying. Remember to leave a review or send me a PM!**

Chapter 4: Pliable Fate

Lydrik quietly followed Zeggoro, the wizard, into the tower and the door closed by itself behind them. The young Northman was a little surprised by this, but he didn't say anything because his apparent mentor didn't comment on it. Together, they walked down a stone hallway and approached a wooden door, which opened by itself as they drew closer to it. The door led them to a stone staircase that led downwards, which would most likely lead them to the basement.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs, a door made out of iron opened in front of them, allowing them entry. The two men entered the basement and once again, the door closed behind them. The room they were in was rectangular in shape and the walls were made out of stone bricks. The floor and ceiling was made out of wood and various burn marks could be seen on the walls and floor. There was also a few wooden dummies hanging from wooden poles on one side of the room.

"This room is where I practice my more offensive spells. I will teach you a spell within these walls." Zeggoro spoke with his arms clasped behind his back as he turned to face the dragon rider.

"Alright, sir. So… what will you be teaching me exactly?" Lydrik asked a little awkwardly as he looked at the aged wizard.

"I believe the spell, ice blast, will suffice. I noticed that your dragoness is an ice dragon, so this spell might get you more used to her cold aura." the wizard replied simply. "Now then, the first thing you should know about magic is that each spell requires certain hand motions in order to be cast. Some spells also require verbal chanting, but I won't get into that nor will I teach you any that require such chanting. Any imbecile can conjure magical energy, but few can actually use that energy. I want you to raise you right hand to about head level and focus your mana on your hand." he instructed with a casual tone of voice.

The young man stared at the old man as if he was crazy, but soon lifted his right hand with a sigh. He tried to focus whatever energy the wizard was talking about in his hand, but nothing happened.

"Perhaps I should clarify. Keep your eyes locked on your hand and clear your mind. Try to imagine a ball of light in your hand and strictly focus on that thought." Zeggoro instructed as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Lydrik silently nodded before he did just as instructed and cleared his mind. The only thing he focused on was making light, as ridiculous as that sounded to him. Strangely enough, he did feel a tingling sensation in his fingertips. He suddenly let out a gasp when a magical white light began to emit from the palm of his hand and light particles seemed to drip from this light. The light also seemed to emit a soft humming noise as it glowed brightly and illuminated his face. He's never seen anything so beautiful in his life.

"Excellent, now we can focus on actually casting a spell." the wizard commented casually. "Now I want you to think of the cold of ice as you do this next step. You can also take your time with this part. In order to cast ice blast, you must lift your hand over your head, bring it downwards to your left, go straight left, then raise your hand over your head again; similar to a triangle shape." he instructed simply.

The young Northman nodded before he slowly lifted his hand above his head. He took his time forming the triangle shape that Zeggoro told him to do and he watched as light dripped from the energy in his hand as he moved it.

When Lydrik's hand ended up where the triangle shape began, he felt hid hand become very cold, but it wasn't uncomfortable. The light in his hand stopped "dripping" as well and it adopted a blue aura. He carefully looked at the blue light in his cold hand before he looked over at his teacher.

"Very good; now let us see you actually cast ice blast. I want you to face one of the dummies and hold your hand out. As you do this, channel the cold in your hand towards the target." the wizard told him as he watched the young man's every movement.

Lydrik nodded slowly before he turned to look at a wooden dummy a few feet away from them. He took a deep breath to steady his nerves before outstretched his arm so that his hand was pointing at the dummy. As he did this, he felt a wave of cold travel down his fingers and through his fingertips.

At that moment, a mist of white particles erupted form the tips of the young man's fingers and his palm. He watched with wide eyes as the mist enveloped the dummy and he pulled his arm back in shock. When he did, the white mist cleared, allowing the two men to see the dummy. The wooden dummy was completely encased in ice. It was as if it had a skin of ice covering its form. There were also little shards of ice that were sticking into the dummy.

"You are a natural with ice-based magic. Not many can caste ice blast with that kind of effect on their first try. You should keep practicing though. You're a little slow at casting the spell." Zeggoro commented as the blue light in Lydrik's hand faded away.

The Northman nodded with a small smile before he summoned the white light in his hand once more and started to cast ice blast again. He never thought performing magic would be so exhilarating to do, even if it did require a lot of concentration. He just hoped that he could master this spell before the Half-Men paid a visit to his home village, Pärlby.

* * *

Outside of Zeggoro's tower, Pebona was flying over the various snowy mountains around the area. Her blue eyes darted around as she searched for the group of grull and wartoks that the wizard mentioned. She was itching for some combat and something to take her frustrations out on.

The ice dragoness flew around the mountainous region around the tower for a few moments and the only signs of life she spotted was the occasional deer or bear below. After a short while however, her sharp eyes spotted smoke in the distance. It could've just been a small human settlement, but she felt compelled to see the cause of the smoke.

The blue scaled dragon flew higher up in the sky to avoid detection and as she drew closer and closer to the smoke, she spotted a bonfire next to a frozen over lake. Various wooden huts could be seen near the fire and she spotted the small forms of grull around their camp. The little creatures were just as ugly as she remembered from the Dark Wars six hundred years ago. There weren't any wartoks as far as she could se, but she assumed that they were in the various wooden huts.

'This is going to be too easy.' she thought confidently to herself with murderous intent in her eyes.

With an animalistic roar, Pebona tucked her wings by her sides and flew straight downwards towards the camp and inhaled deeply. The various grull looked up at the dragoness ass he suddenly leveled out and exhaled a cloud of white mist upon the monsters. As the cold mist breezed through the camp, the various grull screamed in pain as ice shards pierced into their leather skin and some of them even froze to death.

The ice dragoness ceased exhaling the cold frost a d looked down at the dying grull as she hovered over the camp. From that single attack, almost half of the grull died.

At that moment, four or five wartoks ran out of the huts and each of them were wielding bloodstained axes. These creatures were humanoid in appearance and very muscular. Their skin was red in color and they had reddish-brown fur covering most of their body. Tusks pointing upwards stuck out of their large mouths and their heads resembled that of a wild boar. The clothes they were wearing were made of thick cloth that was stitched together in an amateur fashion.

"Kill the dragon!" one of the wartoks roared with a guttural voice as he pointed at the dragoness, who was staring down at them with narrowed eyes.

Pebona inhaled deeply before she spat out large spikes made of ice at the various monsters. Some of them were speared to death by the incoming projectiles while the others ran for cover behind various barrels and boxes.

The ice dragoness growled before she dived down towards some fleeing grull. Just before she hit the ground, she quickly flew upwards and grabbed one of the terrified monsters in her claws. The grull screamed loudly in horror as he was lifted high into the air and his captor suddenly released him. She watched with satisfaction as the monster fell into a freezing cold river, where he would either drown or freeze to death.

Pebona's head sharply turned to look at the huts below to see that there was only a handful of grull and two wartoks left alive from her vicious assault. With a puff of white mist from her nostrils, the ice dragoness dove downwards and exhaled, allowing a cloud of white frost to blanket the monsters' camp. The surviving monsters screamed in agony for a few moments before they froze solid within the mist.

'It looks like they are all dead.' the blue scaled dragon thought to herself as she ceased her attack and she looked at all the corpses and frozen monsters.

Just to be sure that they were dead, Pebona landed on the snowy ground and glared at the frozen grull and wartoks. She quickly approached them as she tucked her wings by her sides. When she felt that she was close enough, she quickly spun around and smashed her muscular tail against her frozen foes. As he tail collided with the creatures, they shattered into thousands of pieces and frozen solid chunks of gore and flesh fell to the ground.

The dragoness felt satisfied with her work and took to the skies with a few strong flaps of her large wings. When she was in the air again, she began to fly towards Zeggoro's tower again. She would be proud to announce that no wartoks or grull would be bothering the wizard for a long time.

It didn't take her long to find the tall tower again and she gracefully landed in front of the proud structure. She was about to call out to them so they would come out, but she figured that interrupted someone's concentration as they casted potentially dangerous spells would be a bad mistake.

Instead of trying to gain the two humans' attention, Pebona laid down on the snowy ground in front of the tower and rested her head on her front paws. The cold air of the north didn't bother her because of her ice breath. She could've spent years out in the tundra without shelter and she would've been fine.

'I suppose those two won't mind if I take a short nap.' the ice dragoness thought to herself before she closed her eyes and sighed softly.

Within moments, Pebona began to snore softly as she napped in the snow. As she slept, Lydrik continued to practice ice blast within Zeggoro's tower.

* * *

Within the village of Pärlby, Lykke was instructed many of the villagers how to defend themselves. For the past few hours, he had some practice dummies made of wood and straw set up in different parts of the center of the village.

The ones who volunteered to help defend the village were set up into three groups. One group were standing side by side and shooting at a line of dummies with crossbows and bows. The second group were more spread out and were sparring with each other using sticks. When the time for battle came, those sticks would be replaced with axes, swords, and whatever improvised weapons could be scavenged. The third group was building makeshift weapons and armor by the sidelines.

Occasionally, Lykke would step up to some of the volunteers an correct their mistakes, but for the most part, he watched them practice. He and everyone in the village knew that they needed to be ready when the Half-Men arrived. Once the battle began, there would be no turning back and it was unlikely that the Half-Men would take prisoners.

As everyone did their assigned tasks, the village elder approached Lykke. He immediately heard the footsteps from the crunching snow and he slowly turned to look at the elder, who was dressed in chainmail armor and goat.

"Will you be fighting with us, Lykke?" the village elder questioned curiously with a raised eyebrow.

"I'd prefer not to because of my age… but I will. I'm going to be leading the crossbow men. I think I will do more good there than the front lines. I would just slow everyone down." the bald man answered simply and he shivered lightly as a cold breeze flew past them.

"I see... that is probably for the best. My wife thinks I'm crazy for doing this, but I'm going to fight as well. I may be old, but that doesn't mean I'll go down without kicking and biting first." the elder stated with a small smile.

This was actually one of the rare moments that Lykke saw the village elder smile. He usually just frowned or held a blank expression. The bald man smiled back and nodded. No matter how fierce the Half-Men were, Pärlby would be ready once they arrived.

* * *

There was a land known as Shiverbane far to the north within the Tundra. The land was mostly riddled with snowy mountains and Half-Men camps. Yeti and wild blackwing dragons roamed the wilderness mechanical ice turrets that were manned by Half-Men made sure that no enemies wandered around Shiverbane. The skies above were coated in white clouds that threatened to bring down snow at any given moment.

The Half-Men's main base of operations settled on the western section of this unforgiving climate. Various wooden walls and tall mountains kept outsiders out while buildings and even a gladiator arena rested within the fortifications.

Within the Half-Men base, there were various ice caves and chambers where the Half-Men lived. One of these chambers functioned as a meeting room. This meeting room had two floors two it and the second floor only functioned as an entrance. The walls were completely covered in crystalline ice and the floor was made out of stone bricks. Three figures stood in the center of this room.

One of these figures was a very muscular Half-Man with thick ram horns. He was wearing a furred cloth around his waist and three human skulls were attached to the iron metal plate that was strapped to his chest. He also wore thick armbands with large spikes sticking out of them. He also wore a dark gray iron helmet that covered the top half of his head. This Half-Man was Maulgak, Chieftain of the Half-Men.

The other two figures were not Half-Men, they were something else entirely. Both of them were humanoid in appearance with human looking skin and features. They both had rather skinny bodies and they wore dark colored pants and boots. The armor they were wearing on their torsos were rather odd though. Black spikes stuck out of the shoulder pads of the armor and their whole arms were protectively covered, but only a metal strap in the center of their chests and backs covered the rest of their torsos. Both of them wore silver nipple rings and judging by the different shapes of their chests, one of them was female and wasn't wearing anything to cover her breasts. The strangest thing about them was that their heads were hovering above their shoulders instead of being attached by a neck. Their heads were completely hairless and horn-like spikes were jutting out of the upper half of their heads. Each of them also had three faces; each face facing different directions. Two of their three heads looked human in appearance, but the third face resembled a skull. These two were Desert Lords and they were both hovering a few inches above the ground.

"Brother Yedeen, Sister Indja… I wish to discuss something with you two." Chief Maulgak spoke up with his muscular arms crossed over his chest.

"You wish to speak of the woman and the dragon, Arokh. Is that correct?" the male Desert Lord, Yedeen, spoke with an echoed voice as he stared at the Half-Man with one of his humanoid faces and his yellow eyes stared narrowed slightly.

"Yes." the chief snorted with annoyance in his voice. "Even as we speak, my scouts are reporting that she's already opened the first Gateway to Surdana; the one at Ravenshold. You told me that your assassins would take care of them." he spoke with a frustrated growl at the end.

"Our agents are doing what they can to stop their progress, but we have been running into certain… complications." Sister Indja spoke up, her voice also echoing unnaturally.

Maulgak snorted again and was about to reply, but he stopped himself when he caught the scent of someone he recognized. Half-Men had a strong sense of smell and could detect animals and people from a great distance away. As soon as he smelled the scent, the stone elevator from the floor above them began to lower. He and the two Desert Lords watched as the lift rested on the floor they were on and General Sershok began to approach them.

"We will discuss this later." the Half-Man chief told the two Desert Lords as the general bowed in respect.

"I bring you important news. Another dragon of the Order has been awakened." General Sershok informed them with his head still lowered.

"Another dragon of the Order? Where did you see this dragon?" Brother Yedeen questioned harshly before his head spun around so he was staring at the general with his face that resembled a skull.

"The dragon was to the southeast, near the village of Pärlby. One of the villagers went and awoke the dragon, my lord." the general explained calmly, showing no emotion in his voice.

"There was a slumbering dragon in your own territory, Maulgak. How did you not find it and eliminate it before this happened?" the male Desert Lord questioned as he turned the skull side of his face to look at the Half-Man leader.

"The first dragon was woken by the woman in your territory. Why didn't you stop it from awakening?" the chief shot back with a beastly growl.

"Your squabbling will not solve the problems involving these dragons." Sister Indja spoke up as she glared at them both with one of her two human-looking faces and her yellow eyes narrowed dangerously. "The woman and her dragon went through the Gate to Surdana as soon as they opened it, so this new dragon is alone with the villager it is most likely Bonded to. I believe that striking them down as soon as possible would be the best course of action." she told them all as she gently clasped her gloved hands together.

"I know this villager personally; his name is Lydrik." General Sershok snarled as he spoke the human's name and he lifted his head finally. "The village he lives in is rather small and has no connections with Ravenshold. Their only organized defense is a few guards. The biggest threat is that dragon. If I had some soldiers to accompany me, I'm sure I could kill Lydrik and that dragon would soon follow." he informed them.

At first, neither the desert lords nor the chief of the Half-Men said anything; they were thinking this strategy over in their heads. Finally, Maulgak was the one to speak.

"If this really is a dragon of the Order, you will need a lot of men. I'm willing to have a small army assist you. One dragon is bad enough, but we can't afford having two meddling in our plans. I will have an army ready for you in two hours." Chief Maulgak said sharply before he brushed past them all and made his way towards the elevator.

General Sershok smirked to himself as he finally stood up straight. He couldn't wait to see Pärlby burn to the ground and he was planning on keeping Lydrik's skull once he killed the boy. He was about to leave as well, but the two Desert Lords quickly floated in front of him, affectively stopping him.

"General, you are familiar with the Bond, correct?" Brother Yedeen questioned as his head swirled around so one of his humanoid faces was staring at the Half-Man.

"Yes. If the human dies, the dragon will go back to slumber. If the dragon dies, then they both die." the general answered gruffly with a nod.

"Good, then I assume you will personally focus on killing the human then. Killing the dragon is far beyond you or your men's capabilities. End the human's life and stop this dragon… because if you don't and you somehow live, we will kill you ourselves." Sister Indja informed him with coldness in her echoing voice.

"I'm not planning on failing… and I do not fear you either, sorcerers." General Sershok replied with an angry growl and he quickly walked past him.

The two Desert Lords watched as the Half-Man stepped onto the stone lift and rose to the second floor. They both hoped that he would be successful in his mission. A second dragon of the Order of the Flame would dampen their plans for conquest. Jasaad Duthane, the leader of the Desert Lords, would not be pleased to find out that there was a new dragon awakened from its slumber.


	5. A Broken Soul

**Kwai kwai everyone! This chapter will feature a few new characters who will play important roles in this story. And for those of you who've actually played Drakan: The Ancients' Gates, you will be seeing some familiar faces and. I hope all of you readers enjoy this chapter. Remember to leave a review or send me a PM!**

Chapter 5: A Broken Soul

Stratos was the home of the Desert Lords within Drakan, which consisted of numerous islands that were suspended high in the air above a place known as the Desert of Tears. The islands all varied in size with some being small while others were considerably larger. Each of them had a desert on its surface however and some even had buildings on them.

A large castle-like building known as the Golem Palace could be seen on one of the larger islands. The building's only entrance was rather large in size and the walls were made out of dark colored stone. A circular gate with an outer rim that resembled serpents could be seen in the center of the large room within the building. This was one of the Ancients' Gates that would supposedly bring the dragons back to the world of Drakan. The Desert Lords guarded this gate so that it would be almost impossible for the humans to even get to the gate.

There was something else in that large room however. A humanoid golem that was made out of black stone and metal was standing in front of gate, as if it was guarding it. The golem had a single eye on the center of its head that consisted of a blood red crystal. It also stood motionless, making it appear completely lifeless. This was the infamous Pain Golem, the Desert Lords' most powerful weapon.

Currently, two Desert Lords were speaking to one another near the building's entrance; one male and one female. The male Desert Lord had skin that was a little paler than the others of his kind and the spikes on his floating head were tan in color instead of black. He also wore a large belt made of bronze and a red jewel could be seen in the center. He also had three pairs of butterfly-like wings on his back. This was Jasaad Duthane, the leader of the Desert Lords.

The female Desert Lord had a more slender body than most other Desert Lords, but her armor and spikes were black, much like the others of her kind. The nipple rings on her exposed breasts were also black, unlike the others, which were usually silver or gray. She also wore a midnight black cape on her back that hung from her shoulders and covered her back. She possessed two faces that resembled a normal woman, but the third face was a skull. She was currently looking at Jasaad with one of her humanoid faces.

"Salaash Armora… I am glad you could come. I need to discuss something with you that is of the utmost importance." Jasaad Duthane spoke with a voice that sounded as if multiple people were speaking at once.

"What do you require of me, my lord?" the female Desert Lord, now known as Salaash Armora, questioned respectfully.

"It has come to my attention that there is a second dragon of the Elder Breed and it is located in the Northlands. Brother Yedeen and Sister Indja ave just reported this news to me." the leader of the Desert Lords replied with a dark tone to his voice(s). "I am too preoccupied with the first dragon and the female human. I want you to oversee this new dragon and see to it that it either dies or is sent back to sleep." he instructed sternly as his yellow eyes narrowed.

"I will do as you wish, my lord." Salaash assured as she bowed her head in respect

"Good. See to it that you succeed. I chose you for this task because I know I can trust you." Jasaad stated with a simply wave of his hand.

The female Desert Lord was about to depart, but she stopped when she felt a familiar magic aura in the air. The Desert Lord leader felt it as well and they both turned to look at the Golem Palace's entrance.

Just inside the palace, particles of sand that lay scattered around the room began to move by themselves to form a pile near the entrance. The sand began to rise up and took the shape of a humanoid. Within moments, the sand fell to the floor again and a man was standing on the now motionless pile of sand.

This new arrival was a humanoid male that was slightly taller than the average human man. This man wasn't a normal human however; his eyes were unnaturally glowing white and his entire body was wrapped in dirty white wrappings. The only part of his body that wasn't covered in the filthy wrappings was his eyes and the top part of the bridge of his nose. The small amount of skin that could be seen was extremely pale and looked as if the skin belonged to a corpse rather than a living person. Some strands of long, gray hair could also be seen peeking out of the wrappings on his scalp. Black claw-like spikes were jutting out of the ends of the man's fingers and a dark gray chain was tightly wrapped around the entirety of the man's right arm.

The mummified man approached the two Desert Lords with his glowing white eyes narrowed in a scowl. As he moved, the chain on his arm clinked slightly.

"What is it you want, wraith?" Salaash Armora demanded impatiently as she glared at the new arrival.

"My master requires more wives. Necropolis is running low on slave girls and we require more." the sand wraith answered with a deep, distorted voice that would send a chill down most peoples spines.

"I will arrange for a shipment of female slaves to your master's palace as soon as I am able" Jasaad replied assuringly with a blank expression.

"See to it that you do. You wouldn't want to make my master angry, would you?" the mummified wraith questioned darkly.

"Watch your tongue. You will show respect towards your betters, slave." Salaash spat furiously and she had to restrain herself from attacking the sand wraith on the spot.

"I show no respect towards your kind; especially YOU!" the mummified man boomed as his hands clenched into fists and the sand around him began to magically rise in the air.

"Enough of your squabble, both of you." the leader of the Desert Lords spoke harshly, gaining both of their attention. "I will not tolerate violence between you two. Now, I will have more slave girls sent to the Flesh Mage as soon as possible. Salaash, I expect you to leave as soon as possible and go to the Northlands. You are both dismissed." he spoke with finality before he suddenly vanished in a black mist.

Salaash Armora scoffed before she also teleported away within a black mist, leaving the sand wraith alone in the Golem Palace. The wraith growled quietly before he turned towards the exit and raised his clawed hand.

"Pathetic fools. You will one day feel my wrath." the sand wraith murmured bitterly.

As he kept his hand raised, the sand that was floating around him clung to the wrappings covering his skin until only sand could be seen. Within moments, the sand dropped to the floor, revealing that the wraith was no longer there.

* * *

Within Zeggoro's tower in the Northlands, Lydrik was continuing to practice the ice blast spell while the powerful wizard occasionally gave him some pointers. Zeggoro mostly had the young man practice the hand movements required to cast the spell rather than actually practice casting it. He explained that it would be a lot more beneficial to be able to summon the spell quickly rather than having Lydrik take his time with the hand movements.

A whole three hours passed and the young Northman was able to perform the proper hand movements to ready ice blast in roughly a second. The old wizard was rather pleased with this progress and he held his left hand up to signal his student to stop.

"That is enough, boy. I believe you have the proper skills to quickly ready ice blast. I believe this will satisfy your dragon." Zeggoro spoke with a pleased tone of voice.

Lydrik nodded before he dispelled the icy energy in his hand and turned to fully face the wizard. Ever since he was young, he wanted to learn magic, so being trained by a wizard was an honor to him.

"Thank you for teaching me, Zeggoro. I truly appreciate it." he stated politely with a smile.

"Think nothing of it; I was merely holding my end of the bargain. Now, I'm certain that your dragon has returned from her hunt. It wouldn't surprise me if she was waiting for you outside." the old wizard breezed off. "Now, I have work to do. I am confident that you can show yourself out." he stated nonchalantly.

Before the Northman could say anything else, Zeggoro exited the room without another word. Lydrik loudly exhaled through his nose before he walked through the now open doorway and up the stairs. He was a little surprised that the wizard was nowhere in sight.

'He's pretty fast for such an old person.' Lydrik thought to himself with a frown as he made it to the top of the steps and he found himself back in the main hallway.

The young man made his way through the hall and made a few turns until he found the wooden door that would lead him outside. When he got close enough to the exit, the door opened by itself and a breeze of cold air rushed past him. His frowned deepened as he felt the sharp chill and he tucked his long coat closer to his body.

As Lydrik made his way outside and he felt the cold snow under his boots, the door closed shut behind him. The first thing he noticed was that Pebona had indeed returned. She was currently lying down in the snow not too far away and her eyes were closed shut. The steady sound of her breathing also indicated that she was sleeping.

"How can a dragon who's been asleep for six hundred years be sleeping mere hours after being awakened?" he asked himself as the cold breeze caused his hair to flow with the wind.

The blue scaled dragoness shifted when the human spoke, but she still slept peacefully. The young man sighed before he walked right up to the dragon. He felt extremely nervous around here and the thought of waking her up sent a shiver up his spine, but he didn't want to wait in the freezing cold all day just so she could take a nap. He hesitantly rested a hand on her shoulder and gently shook her in an attempt to wake her up.

"Pebona… please wake up." Lydrik spoke softly as he tried to nudge her shoulder again.

The ice dragoness' eyes suddenly shot open and the one eye the human could see clearly immediately darted to look at him. He felt a sudden wave of fear as her slitted pupil stared at him and her eye narrowed.

"This makes it twice now that you've awoken me, boy." Pebona spoke with frustration in her deep voice as she slowly stood up on her four feet.

The young Northman didn't reply and lowered his head; he didn't want to make her angry with him. He also didn't want to provoke her so she wouldn't say more hurtful things to him. The ice dragoness simply scoffed at his silence and stood up.

"Get on my back. We're going back to your village." she stated sternly as she lowered her body for him.

The young man wordlessly approached the blue scaled dragoness and swung his leg over her body before he rested himself on her back. Once he had his arms wrapped around her neck, the ice dragoness spread her wings and took to the skies. Much to her appreciation, her mount didn't scream this time as they made their way upwards.

Lydrik felt the cold wing rush past them as she flew upwards and back in the direction they originally came from. He did find himself starting to get used to the harsh cold; or perhaps his long coat was affectively keeping him warm. Either way, he couldn't wait to get home so he could simply rest by his fireplace.

"Did that wizard teach you anything, boy?" Pebona asked suddenly as she flew well over the icy mountains beneath them; due to her powerful lungs and voice, she didn't really have to shout in order to by heard during flight.

"Yes…! He taught me a spell called ice blast!" the Northman yelled over the chilly winds.

"Ice blast… it seems that the wizard has a sense of humor then, considering the fact that I am an ice dragon. At least you'll be able to do something in battle instead of cowering behind me the whole time." the blue dragoness commented casually.

"I really wish you wouldn't insult me all the time…" he commented quietly to himself, but her acute hearing easily picked up his words.

"I will insult you as I see fit, boy. As far as I see it, you are a scared little farm boy who meddled in affairs you doesn't understand. Your father seemed like a more reasonable human to be Bonded to than you. Unless you do something noteworthy, I will continue to voice my ill opinions of you." Pebona told him with finality in her voice.

Lydrik went silent when she said that and he looked towards the clouds with a look of sadness. He hated how she constantly brought him down; he never even asked to be Bonded with her. He simply wanted to awaken her. Now it felt like he was stuck spending the rest of his life as her verbal punching bag.

The rest of the flight went on in silence between them as they soon spotted the village of Pärlby down below them. Pebona ceased flapping her wings when she spotted the human settlement and she began to glide downwards. Many of the villagers noticed their descent, but none of them panicked like the first time she and Lydrik arrived together. Lykke smiled when he saw them approach and he lightly waved at them as the dragoness gently landed in the center of the village. Once they had landed, the young Northman quickly dismounted the dragon and stood on his slightly wobbly legs. He wasn't sure if he would ever get used to flight.

"Your back. Where did you two fly off to?" the bald man questioned as he slowly walked over to his adopted son and the mighty dragoness.

"I took your son to see the wizard you spoke of earlier today. I felt that it would be wise for the boy to learn some magic for the coming battle." the ice dragoness explained calmly. "I had to kill a few wartoks and grull in order to get the wizard to cooperate, but it was no challenge to me. Those smelly beasts put up little resistance." she added with a rumbling chuckle.

"Really? You know magic now?" Lykke asked with a raised eyebrow as he turned to look at his adopted son.

"Huh? Oh, yeah… the wizard taught me how to perform ice blast." Lydrik replied quietly, not really paying attention to the conversation.

The old man noticed that his son wasn't really paying attention, but he chose not to voice this. He felt guilty that his son was now Bonded with this dragon and that he would now have to put his life at risk because of this.

"I suggest you go home and warm up, Lydrik. The elder and I can handle getting everyone ready for the Half-Men. I want you and Pebona to relax for awhile." he stated softly.

"Can your house fit an adult dragon like myself?" the ice dragoness questioned with a raised eye ridge.

"Sadly, no." Lykke replied with a small mile, appreciating her humor. "If you would like though, Lydrik could open a window so you can poke your head in. That is, if you would like some of the warmth from the fire or wish to speak with my son." he offered politely, showing great respect towards the dragoness.

"I think I will have him do just that. Thank you." Pebona replied appreciatively before she looked down at her rider. "Now, where is your home?" she questioned.

"Follow me." Lydrik sighed quietly before he walked off with his hands tucked into his coat pockets.

The blue scaled dragoness followed close behind the human and after a short walk, they approached a wooden house. He entered the home without a word and soon opened one of the windows for the dragoness. She gave the dragon equivalent to a smirk as she sat down next to the house and slithered her long neck through the window so her head was inside the house. She watched as he placed some kindling and wood logs in the fireplace before he used some flint to light a fire.

As the fire began to crackle and emit soothing heat, the young Northman took off his heavy long coat and his knapsack before he rested them both on a nearby coat hanger. He then walked over to a rocking chair in front of the fireplace and sat down with a sigh.

"I will admit, you have a nice home. It's very… cozy looking. I personally prefer caves and mountains, but this is nice for a human structure." Pebona commented as her light blue eyes looked around the home.

"Thanks." the human replied halfheartedly as he held his hands over the fire to warm them up.

His left hand was especially cold because he hasn't worn a glove on that hand since he first awakened the nearby dragoness. He still hard trouble believing that he of all people was going to be a dragon of the Elder Breed's rider. In a way, this felt alike the fairy tales he read as a child. Still, he did not wish to have the life of a warrior; he wanted to spend the rest of his days in his village and perhaps visit Ravenshold, but it seemed like any hope of a peaceful life was ripped away once he performed the Bond.

"You know, you don't look anything like your father." Pebona commented suddenly, breaking him out of his train of thought.

"Hm? Oh… he's not my real father. I was abandoned by my real parents when I was a baby and he took me in." Lydrik replied; he didn't see the harm in telling her this.

"Your parents abandoned you? I find that repulsive. Parents should take care of their young until they are ready to be on their own. A Baby is not capable of surviving by themselves." the dragoness scoffed, feeling sickened by such a thought.

The human didn't reply to this, but he felt a little more at ease just by her saying that. It was nice to know that she wasn't completely heartless like he had hypothesized.

"Well, if we're going to be sharing stories with one another, I mine as well tell you a little about myself. I fought in the Dark Wars six hundred years ago." she commented casually as she turned to look at the crackling fire.

"Really?" Lydrik asked with honest curiosity and he turned to look at her over his shoulder.

"Yes, I fought alongside many war heroes, such as the fire dragon, Arokh. My brothers and sisters and I fought against those traitorous swine from the Dark Union to the very end. When Arokh's rider died and the war ended, the rest of my kind simply went into hiding to sleep. Being a dragon at that time was a dangerous thing, you see. The Dark Union would find ways to corrupt us. The blackwing dragons you've no doubt seen were once normal dragons like me, but the Dark Union turned them into mindless beasts." Pebona explained to him while she continued to stare at the fireplace.

The young Northman was stunned by the information she was telling him. He couldn't believe that he was speaking to an actual veteran of the Dark Wars and even though he was told that it was possible that blackwings used to be normal dragons, it was something else entirely for an actual dragon to confirm this.

"I'm sorry to hear that…" Lydrik murmured quietly.

"Don't be sorry, boy. You didn't corrupt my friends. Those traitors did." the ice dragoness brushed off.

Both of them went silent at that point and they simply stared at the crackling fire. Even with the slight chill coming from the open window, the fireplace kept the room warm. For now, both the dragon and the rider were set on relaxing until they were needed.


	6. A Path Towards Blood

**Kwai kwai nidobak! I know that some of you readers might be a little confused with the sand wraith's presence, but I'm hoping to gradually reveal more about him as this story goes on. Also, I will occasionally focus the story in other parts of the world of Drakan, but just know that everything will make sense in the end. Anyway, remember to leave a review or send me a PM!**

Chapter 6: A Path Towards Blood

The Flesh Mage's lair resided on one of the many islands of Stratos and his lair was referred to as Necropolis by the Desert Lords. The island mostly consisted of a mountain with various tunnels and chambers within. The only physical entrance to these tunnels was a large opening that resembled a skull with sharp teeth functioning as bars.

The sharp teeth-like bars suddenly began to rise upwards as a floating ferry with red sails made its way towards Necropolis. The opening to Necropolis was just big enough to allow the boat entry. This ferry was made completely out of wood and magic suspended it in the air. The boat looked to be big enough to hold multiple people, but there was only one person onboard the ship.

A lone woman with a bouquet of blue flowers could be seen on the ship's deck and she was wearing a very small amount of clothes. This woman had tan skin and dirty blonde hair that was tied back in a ponytail. She was currently barefoot and her legs were mostly covered with white stockings that went up to her thighs. Here underwear and bra were both white and barely covered her. Both of her arms had thin, white armbands wrapped around them and she wore a golden colored choker on her neck. Her hazel eyes were looking through a porcelain mask she was wearing. The mask was covering her whole face and was only held up by a thin leather string that was tied around her face. The porcelain was white in color and the "lips" were covered red. The mask resembled a very pale woman, which greatly contrasted with her tanned skin.

The ferry this scantly woman was on slowed down to stop and "docked" as the spikes that served as a sort of door lowered again. The ferry was now in a large room with a dock-like structure made of stone around it. When the boat came to a full stop, a stone bridge extended from the right side of the boat and formed a path from the boat onto the dock.

The sand wraith who spoke to the two Desert Lords in the Golem Palace was standing with his arms crossed on near the newly formed bridge. He watched with his glowing white eyes as the woman slowly walked across the bridge and approached him.

"Oh… I'm so happy now… I can't wait to meet my loving husband…" the young woman spoke with a very tired sounding voice.

The wraith knew that there was something wrong with this woman; she had been put under a spell. He wasn't entirely sure what the spell did, but it made woman act as if they were high or drunk. Still, this made his job much easier. He had to admit though, she was a very pretty woman and if he was still mortal, he probably would've taken advantage of her drunken-like state. He quickly brushed those thoughts away however and focused on the task at hand.

"I will take you to your husband." the wraith stated coldly before he roughly grabbed her arm, taking care not to cut her smooth skin with his clawed fingers.

The masked woman did not resist as the sand wraith practically dragged her across the stone dock and towards the northern side of the large room. A raised metal platform with a gridded surface could be seen near the northern wall. Magical purple light was also radiating from the top of the strange structure and the wraith stepped onto the gritted platform. The woman slowly stepped on as well and as soon as she did, the purple light intensified. When the light faded, they were no longer there.

In another room within Necropolis, a similar platform could be seen and it began to radiate a similar purple light. The sand wraith and the woman he was holding materialized on top of the structure with a magical humming south before the light faded away again. The room they found themselves in had a red hue to it and it was very dark. The only source of light was a few candles hanging gin the center of the circular shaped room. In the center of the room, a stone table could be seen on a platform. The platform was surrounded by a moat that only had two bridges that connected it with the rest of the room.

The sand wraith begrudgingly led the scantily clad woman towards the center of the room and across one of the bridges. Now that they were close enough to the moat, they could see that it was filled with foul smelling blood and bloodied porcelain masks could be seen floating on its surface. The girl was too disorientated to notice this and the wraith simply didn't care.

"Lay down on the table." he ordered sternly with bitterness in his voice.

The woman obediently did as instructed and laid down on her back on top of the cold table. The wraith snatched the beautiful flowers out of her hands and without a word, began to walk across one of the bridges and towards an open set of double doors.

When the doors slammed closed behind him, the spell that clouded the barely dressed girl's mind began to wear off. She groaned softly as her eyes slowly looked around the room without moving her head. Her hazel eyes widened in fear however when something began to magically float towards her.

Floating before her was a humanoid creature that seemed to come from the very depths of the woman's nightmares. This being had no skin to speak of on his body and only red muscles could be seen. Fleshy tendons connected the beast's jaws with its collarbone and its mouth lacked lips to keep it properly closed. The creature's mouth also seemed to go at least halfway around its head and the mouth was riddled with sharp teeth. Two thin holes could be seen above the monster's mouth and she couldn't tell if these holes were its nostrils or eyes.

That wasn't all that scared the woman however; it was what this being was wearing. The monster was wearing human skin as a cloak. Its hands were covered in what looked like skin from hands and it wore a hood that appeared to be multiple women's faces crudely stitched together. Various strips of skin covered the monster's legs completely and what looked like the skin from arms wrapped around the beast's chest to form an X. It was even wearing a cape on its back that was made out of the same materials as the rest of the gruesome robe it was wearing.

"D-Don't hurt me…" the woman stuttered with a shaky voice as the monster seemed to look down at her and it began to breathe heavily, as if in anticipation.

"A… my loving bride. Your skin looks so precious and smooth." horrific creature spoke with an ephemeral sounding voice and he gently clasped his sickly gloved hands together. "Come, my beautiful wife. Let me hear your beautiful screams…" he spoke as he slowly extended his hand towards her.

* * *

The dark double doors slammed behind the sand wraith as he left the barely dressed woman with his master, the Flesh Mage. It wasn't long before he heard shrieks and screams of agony from the room behind him. He figured that the Flesh Mage was skinning the woman alive at this point, most likely to add her skin to his robe.

This happened on a regular basis. About every hour or so, sometimes in a lesser amount of time, a new "bride" would arrive in Necropolis and the sand wraith would lead her to her demise. He was horrified to do this when he was first resurrected as a wrath two hundred years ago, but he's grown used to it since then. The screams of anguish didn't even faze him anymore

The mummified wraith silently walked down the barely lit hallway and took a sharp right down another hall. Like the previous rooms, the halls had a slight red hue to them. There were also tall stone golems that stood stalk still here and there. None of them moved an inch as the wraith wordlessly passed them. They looked identical to the Pain Golem at the Golem Palace, but these ones were much smaller than that monstrosity, but they still towered over the wraith.

He didn't care about their size or what they were capable however. If he really wanted to, he could destroy all of these golems and almost everyone in this hellish place, except the Flesh Mage of course. No one in Drakan was more powerful than the Flesh Mage. Even the Desert Lords feared him, which was why the infamous mage was kept in this palace and constantly given blood sacrifices. It was a sort of sick deal they had arranged. The Flesh Mage would make golems and perform minor feats for the Desert Lords so long as he was given plenty of brides in return. The wraith smirked under his wrappings when he thought about what would happen if the Desert Lords somehow angered the Flesh Mage.

'Oh, I would love to see Salaash's skull being crushed under the foot of one of my master's golems.' the sand wraith thought to himself with grim satisfaction as he turned left when he reached a t-intersection.

He continued to walk through the maze-like halls of Necropolis with no particular destination in mind. The screaming had stopped at that point, much to his relief. That woman's constant screams was starting to greatly annoy him.

There wasn't really anything interesting to do in Necropolis and he had already explored every nook and cranny the dark palace had to offer. The only things of interest he could find were the numerous golems and the occasional animated skeleton that functioned as a guard. He was just starting to grow bored when a voice spoke out behind him.

"Damien. I would like a word with you." a throaty masculine voice spoke out from the darkness.

The sand wraith, now known as Damien, mentally growled as he slowly turned around to see that a djinn had spoken his mortal name. Djinn were rather queer creatures that were common in Stratos. They were strong, four armed demons that usually carried lightning shaped swords in each hand. Each of these demons had no legs to speak of and floated above the ground thanks to a small cyclone of wind under them. They tended to wear violet and orange striped clothes over their muddy yellow skin and their ears were pointed. Like other djinn, this one had naturally gray hair that was mostly shaved off, save a tied back clutch in the back of his head.

"What is it you want, djinn?" the sand wraith asked impatiently with that distorted voice of his as he crossed his arms over his wrapped up chest.

"I want to ask you something. Did you hear that another dragon of the Elder Breed has awakened?" the four armed monster questioned as he floated over to the wraith.

"No, I haven't." Damien replied bluntly and with little concern.

"Are you not worried? Two of these dragons could ruin our plans to conquer Drakan." the lone djinn spoke with a frown and he crossed two of his four arms over his chest, mimicking the wraith's earlier action.

"These dragons could potentially ruin the plans of the Desert Lords, not mine or my master's." the wraith stated with a small wave of his clawed hand.

"And what exactly are your plans?" the djinn questioned as his eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"I know not what my master wishes besides the skinning of his wives, but my plans are my business, not yours. I have nothing against the dragons and will not antagonize them unless they trifle with my matters. I have more respect for the dragons than filthy djinn like yourself." the mummified being explained as his glowing white eyes narrowed dangerously and he held the bouquet of flowers that he took from the woman earlier much more tightly.

"You should mind what you say…" the djinn spoke darkly with a glare of his own.

"I am. I was about to speak with much more colorful language. Now leave me be, you filth." Damien replied sharply.

The floating monster just scoffed and turned around before moving away. Once the djinn had turned the corner and was gone completely, the wraith slowly looked down at the flowers he was holding. In his past life, he probably would've considered them beautiful, but his anger and hatred cut off all aspects of beauty from the world.

'They will pay. They will all pay for what they did to me. I won't let a few dragons get in the way of my vengeance. I just need to wait for the right time to make my move.' the sand wraith thought to himself before he dropped the bouquet of flowers and watched it fall to the stone floor.

Damien growled quietly in the back of his throat as he lowered his head and some strands of gray hair hung downwards. He took a deep breath to calm down before he started to walk down the hall again. As he walked, he stepped on the bouquet of flowers and crushed the beautiful blue plants.

* * *

Two weeks have passed since Lydrik had awakened the Dragon of the Order, Pebona. Many of the villagers within Pärlby have been still preparing for the imminent conflict with the Half-Men. Guards and lookouts were often looking out at the landscape from the top of the wooden walls surrounding the town to make sure that the town would know when their enemies would arrive. So far, there had been no sightings of Half-Men. This just made the villagers more nervous and they could tell what was worse, engaging the Half-Men or waiting for the battle.

While everyone else trained and kept watch, Pebona would often take Lydrik out to practice flight. She was already a master at flying, but she mostly just wanted her rider to get used to traveling through the air. She also liked the thought of scaring the wits out of him when she performed more complex aerial maneuvers.

Other than the practice flights, the young Northman didn't really do anything he considered useful. He would still chop wood with a few others to ensure that no one would freeze, but whenever he went out of his house, he would usually immediately find himself surrounded by the other villagers and they would bombard him with questions about the dragoness he had brought to Pärlby with him.

Lydrik didn't like this new attention he was receiving. He had always considered himself to be more of the quiet type that isn't anything special, but this new attention he was receiving was making him feel uncomfortable and claustrophobic at times. He almost never answered any of their questions and kept his head down when he went out to chop wood. Some people took the hint and left him be, but there were still many villagers who continued to question him about the dragon.

Pebona took the attention quite oppositely from her human rider. She loved the attention she was receiving and often told the villagers of her heroic acts during the Dark Wars. Even the children of the village have grown to like the dragoness.

Lydrik was currently in his home, sitting in front of the fireplace. He sighed quietly to himself as he watched the crackling fire and wished for things to become normal again. Throughout the day, he hasn't left his home in fear of being swarmed with questions and comments from the rest of the village. Throughout the day, he's been keeping the house warm and simply sitting in his chair. He knew he was being lazy, but he didn't care.

The young Northman flinched when he heard a light tapping coming from the window. Quickly, he looked over to his left to see that Pebona was lightly tapping the glass with her snout, most likely trying to gain his attention.

'For the love of the stars, please don't make me go flying.' the human begged in his head as he stood up and walked over to the window.

With little effort, he pried open the window and the ice dragoness looked at him with her light blue eyes. He still found those eyes rather intimidating even after these two weeks of being with her.

"We're going flying. Come out." Pebona stated sternly before she pulled her head away from the window.

'Damn it! Why?' Lydrik thought to himself with a heavy exhale.

The young man grumbled quietly to himself as he walked over to his coat rack and put on a rather heavy fur coat. He also put on some boots before he used some water to put out the water at the fireplace. It wouldn't be a smart idea to leave a fire burning with no one to tend to it.

Once the fire was out, he made his way to the exit and opened the door, allowing the cold air to breeze past him. The ice dragoness was standing a short distance away from the house and she watched closely as her rider stepped out of the house and closed the door behind him.

"Hurry up and get on. I want to stretch my wings." she ordered him with a tone as cold as her breath.

Lydrik nodded slowly before he approached the blue scaled dragoness and mounted her back. He had asked her why she wouldn't let him put a saddle on her before, and she told him that she didn't like the thought of being treated like a simple horse. He couldn't really blame her for that, but that didn't mean he liked having her scales rubbing against him like sandpaper. Then again, his heavy clothes usually protected him from most of the friction. She also told him that he would eventually get used to riding her.

Once the young Northman had his arms wrapped around her long neck, Pebona flapped her mighty gray wings and took to the air. The cold wind caused the human's dark hair to flap behind him as they gained altitude and they were just below the clouds when she leveled out. Like the rest of the flights they have taken together, Pebona flew around the general area around the village. Various animals and the occasional monster could be seen down below in the snowy wilderness, but the monsters didn't pose any threat to them when they were this high in the sky. The blackwing dragons also kept their distance because Pebona didn't purposely fly into their territory, much to her rider's gratitude.

After about half an hour's flight, the ice dragoness stopped abruptly and hovered in the air while she flapped her wings to stay airborne. Lydrik raised an eyebrow at this strange behavior and he opened his mouth to question why they stopped, but he audibly closed his mouth when he saw a dark form in the distance below them.

An army of Half-Men could be seen trekking through the wilderness towards Pärlby and each of them were armed with either a drill-like hammer or a mechanical crossbow. There was even a yeti walking with the army. The beast was as tall as an inn and was covered in thick white fur. The yeti also had sharp tusks pointing upwards and the black skin around its face was hairless. It stood on two powerful legs and it slouched slightly as it walked. Like the wild yeti in the Northlands, this yeti was unarmed and wasn't wearing any type of clothing.

"It looks like these Half-Men have come to play." Pebona commented before she quickly turned around and started to fly back towards Pärlby. "Lydrik, when we land, I want you to go to your home and prepare for battle, here multiple layers of clothes and get your father's axe. And don't forget that spell the wizard taught you a few weeks ago. I will warn the villagers of the upcoming army." she instructed with a stern tone of voice.

Lydrik didn't argue and held the dragoness' neck tightly as she began to dive downwards towards the nearby village. Once she landed in the center of town, the human hopped off of her back and rushed towards his home. He could hear Pebona's booming voice behind her, but he didn't pay attention to what she was saying. The thought of actually going to battle was taking a heavy toll on him, but he knew that he had to defend his home from these monsters. It was his fault that they were threatening his home in the first place, so he felt like he had to at least do something to help.

When he reached his house, Lydrik burst open the door and ran up the stairs to his room. Once there, he took off his fur coat and tossed it onto his bed. He then started to put on multiple layers of thick shirts, which were mostly meant to protect him from the harsh cold rather than protection from a stray crossbow bolt or any other weapon. When he felt like he had enough shirts on, he grabbed his fur coat again and put it on. Outside his house, he could hear the village elder yelling orders to the villagers to prepare for battle.

"I can't believe this is happening." the young man murmured quietly to himself as he buttoned up his coat and put on a second pair of gloves over the ones he was already wearing.

Once the second set of gloves were on, he grabbed the long coat he wore when he first awakened Pebona and donned it over all the clothes he was already wearing. He chose not to button up the long coat and grabbed a nearby scarf, which he wrapped around the lower portion of his face. This was meant to keep his mouth and nose warm. Lastly, he grabbed a wool hat and placed it over his long haired head.

Lydrik was wearing so many clothes for two reasons. One, riding an ice dragoness made the temperature around him even colder than normal. Secondly, he was told that it might snow later today and that it might turn into a full blizzard. He was hoping that the weather wouldn't get that bad, but it didn't hurt to be prepared.

The young man sighed heavily through his scarf as he walked out of his room and made his way down the stairs. The heavy boots he was wearing caused the wooden steps to creak every time he took a step. When he made it to the bottom of the stairs, he made his way over to a wooden table on the side of the wall, which was where he last left his father's hatchet. He took a few short moments to steady his shaky breath before he picked up the axe and held the wooden handle firmly.

"Please… let us get through this in one piece." Lydrik spoke quietly to himself before he walked out the front door.


	7. Red Blood in the White Snow

**Kwai kwai nidobak! I apologize for taking awhile to post another chapter of this story. I have been busy with other things lately. So, I wrote a longer chapter for you all to enjoy. I hope you readers like it. Remember to leave a review or send me a PM!**

Chapter 7: Red Blood in the White Snow

Lydrik of Pärlby exited his home and into the cold outside. He noticed that many of the villagers who had been training for the upcoming battle were getting into their battle positions. Many of them were armed with various weapons and tools that would be used as improvised weapons, such as woodcutting axes and snow shovels. Some men were also piling a large amount of tree logs in front of the village gate to function as a barricade. Considering the yeti he saw with the approaching army, Lydrik had little faith that the barricade would protect them much.

The young man sighed quietly through the scarf covering the lower half of his face and rested his gloved hands into his pockets as he began to search the village for his father. It didn't take him long to spot his father, who was holding a wooden crossbow and he seemed to be giving instructions to a group of hunters armed with crossbows and long bows.

When Lykke had finished giving them instructions, the group of hunters nodded and walked off towards a nearby ladder that would lead them up the walls that surrounded the town. While they walked away, the bald man turned around and smiled sadly at his adopted son.

"Pebona told us… about the Half-Men." Lykke started as he slung his crossbow over his shoulder. "Listen to me, son… no matter what happens during this fight, I want you to stay on that dragon's back and keep to the skies. I want you to be as safe as possible and I'm confident that Pebona will protect you. Promise me that you will honor my request." he spoke with obvious worry in his voice.

"Don't worry, pa. I promise you that I will stay with Pebona." Lydrik assured softly with a small nod.

The old man nodded back before he took a few steps forward and wrapped his arms fatherly around his son. His son instantly returned the hug and he felt his father kiss is fabric covered cheek.

"I love you, son." Lykke murmured before he stepped away and pulled a furred hood over his head. "Stay safe." he added before he unslung his crossbow and followed the rest of the archers towards the walls.

Lydrik watched as his father as he heard the sound of a set of four feet crunch the snow as they approached him. He resisted the urge to sigh as he turned around to see Pebona approaching him and he noticed that her piercing blue eyes were staring right into his brown ones. He felt himself shiver lightly as he stared at her and it wasn't just because of the cold wind.

"Get on my back, boy. It is time." she told him with that deep voice of hers.

Lydrik nodded slowly before he approached the powerful dragoness and she lowered her body slightly to make it easier to mount her. With some effort, he climbed onto her back and wrapped his arms around her neck. He held on a little more tightly as she raised her body again and she craned her neck to look at him.

"Do you remember how to caste the spell that wizard taught you?" she questioned emotionlessly.

"Yes. I have been practicing it every day since Zeggoro taught it to me." the young Northman answered honestly as a sudden breeze caused any hair that his hat wasn't covering to shift slightly.

"Good. You might have to use that spell to kill if things go wrong. If luck is on our side, then you won't even have to use it." the blue scaled ice dragoness told him before she faced forward again. "Now… let's fly." she stated as her piercing blue eyes narrowed.

Immediately after that was said, Pebona spread her light gray wings and took to the skies. Lydrik tightly held onto her neck as she flew directly upwards and she only leveled out again when they were directly under the clouds. She sharply flapped her wings so she could hover in place and she looked down at the village below them.

"And now we wait." the ice dragoness told her rider.

As they stayed in the air, the villagers of Pärlby were all in their assigned positions. Children and anyone who didn't volunteer to fight stayed in the basements of various houses while the others waited for the enemy to arrive. Archers and crossbowmen stood side by side on top of the walls surrounding the town and they were all facing the direction they were told the Half-Men were coming from.

For a long moment, everything was silent, except for the burst of wind every now and again. Snow fell from the clouded sky at a gradually faster pace, but this didn't deter anyone. Everyone's main focus was the awaiting army.

Finally, shades of gray began to make their way out of the snowed over forest in front of the village. Various Half-Men with mechanical crossbows and drill-like hammers marched towards the village with General Sershok himself leading them. Many of the villagers' eyes widened in fear and a few gasps could be heard when a lone yeti stomped its way into the open and looked at the village with its white and red eyes.

Once the entire army was out and in the open, General Sershok raised his left hand, which signaled for the army to stop. The various soldiers immediately stopped in their tracks and the general snorted as he looked up at the archers on the village walls.

"Humans! Hear my voice for I shall not repeat myself!" the intimidating Half-Man boomed with a thundering voice. "We have not come to desecrate your home; we only seek the awakened dragon of the Order and its rider! Tell me where they are or suffer my wrath!" he spoke with that thundering voice he possessed.

No one spoke a word after this. All of the archers on the walls drew back their bowstrings and the crossbowmen took aim, but none of them fired without Lykke's signal. No one dared to reply to the Half-Man's demand, which angered the general.

General Sershok scoffed disdainfully and slowly unsheathed his morning star from his mace. Without a word, he turned around and started to walk away from the village and he made his way to the back of the army. Once he was all the way in the back, he turned around and glared at the village of Pärlby. At this point, it was snowing much more heavily than it was before.

"Fine! You've made your choice! Kill the humans!" the general roared as he raised his weapon in the air.

Many of the Half-Man soldiers snarled as they all began to march towards the village of Pärlby. Many of the villagers became nervous as they watched the approaching army, but Lykke stayed surprisingly calm and inhaled deeply.

"Fire!" the old man boomed.

As soon as he yelled that, he and all the archers at the village wall either released their arrows or shot their crossbow bolts. The sky darkened as various arrows and bolts soared through the air and many of the projectiles pierced into the Half-Men's bodies. Some of the arrows and bolts simply hit the white snow, but those who were hit grunted and roared from the pain. A few of the Half-Men fell due to their wounds, but most of them continued to march even with arrows and bolts sticking out of their bodies.

The bowmen were easily able to ready more arrows and fire down at the approaching army, but the crossbowmen needed more time to reload their weapons. With each barrage of arrows and bolts, more Half-Men fell, but there were still plenty of monsters marching. The yeti that was with the army let out a thundering roar as it stomped towards the village with a strand of drool hanging from its open mouth.

In the skies above, Pebona hovered in midair while she and her rider looked down at the battle. Lydrik was very nervous and amazed by the battle he was witnessing, but Pebona simply stared with narrow eyes.

"That yeti will crush its way into the village if we do not stop it, but yetis are resistant to cold an dice, so it seems like brute force will have to suffice here. Boy, I recommend you hold on as tight as you can." the blue scaled dragoness stated sternly.

Lydrik instinctively nodded even though she wasn't looking at him and held onto her neck more tightly. The last thing he wanted was to fall off her back in the middle of the battle.

Without a moment's hesitation, the Elder Dragoness dived downwards and tucked her gray wings to her sides. As she sharply flew downwards, the yeti reached the village wall and snarled as it smashed its fist against the wooden structure. Splinters of wood burst in all directions and one archer fell off the wall from the sheer force of the strike. The yeti looked down and roughly stomped its clawed foot on the archer's body crushing it.

The massive beast growled and was about to strike the wall again, but Pebona swooped down and pulled upwards just before she could crash onto the beast. As she flew over it, she raked her sharp claws over its thick hide. The yeti let out a deep growl as rivers of blood poured from its shoulders and stained its white fur.

The ice dragoness quickly swirled around in the air and glared at the yeti, which was now staring up at her and the human on her back. Many of the Half-Men noticed the dragon's presence, but they chose to let the yeti handle the dragoness while they tried to breach the village. Their first priority was to stop those archers.

General Sershok was still standing by the edge of the forest with a few other Half-Men and his black eyes narrowed as he stared at their targets in the sky. He still couldn't believe that Lydrik was now a dragon rider. He almost hoped that the yeti would fail to kill them just so that he could kill the human himself.

Back at the village wall, the yeti snarled as it stared up at the dragon. The monster quickly dug its clawed hands into the snow by its feet and quickly formed a large snowball. It then exhaled a bluish mist onto the large snowball so the snow would harden like rock. With a growl, the beast leaned back and threw the snowball towards the dragoness with all the might it possessed.

Lydrik cried out in fear as he watched the incoming snowball, but before the projectile could hit them, Pebona sharply flapped her strong wings so her body would quickly sway to the left. The snowball harmlessly flew past them and she dived down to claw at the beast again. The yeti anticipated this however and exhaled more of the icy mist from its tusked mouth. Because she was an ice dragon however, Pebona felt no pain from the ice and she moved her head upwards a little to shield her rider from the otherwise harmful mist.

When she was close enough, the ice dragoness dug her claws into the monster's shoulders and clung onto it, which made the beast howl in what appeared to be agony. She then opened her mouth and bit into the yeti's neck, drawing more blood. The beast tried to push her off of it with its hands, but this only made her claws and teeth sink deeper into its flesh.

During all of this, Lydrik stared at both Pebona and the yeti with wide eyes. He's never seen her fight before, so to see her clawing and biting the monster made him feel even more scared of her, but also respect. He's also never been so close to a yeti before, so to be so close that he could touch it if he really wanted to was such a surreal experience for him. Despite the fear he was feeling, he couldn't help but feel confident that his village would be safe from these monsters as long as Pebona was with them.

General Sershok watched the battle with a scowl and approached one of the Half-Men standing to his left. The soldier was carrying a metal crossbow that was already loaded with a bolt.

"I require this." the general stated as he sheathed his morning star and forcibly snatched the weapon out of the soldier's grip.

The smaller Half-Man simply bowed his head in respect and surrendered his weapon without a word. Sershok ignored the obedient soldier and took aim at the dragon in the distance. He noticed that Pebona was still clinging onto the yeti and biting at its neck. This opportunity to strike wouldn't last much longer.

With careful aim, the general fired the crossbow with a twang and the bolt whistled as it flew through the air. The metal bolt soared over the marching Half-Men and soon reached its mark. The tip of the bolt pierced into Lydrik's upper left arm and just barely missed the bone. The human's brown eyes widened from the sudden pain and he screamed through his thick scarf.

Pebona flinched when she heard her rider scream and she pulled her jaws away from the yeti so she could look over her shoulder to see what was wrong. This gave the yeti a chance to retaliate however and it roared as it smashed its white furred arm against the dragoness' side.

The blue scaled dragoness grunted in pain as she was knocked away from the beast and her talons were torn out of its hide. With some strong flaps of her wings, she was able to steady herself again, but Lydrik lost his grip in the process and he screamed more loudly as he fell off her back and onto a large pile of snow below.

"Dammit!" Pebona growled as she looked down at her fallen rider.

She was about to swoop down and carry him away to safety, but she had to stop and dodge another swipe form the yeti's arm. At that moment, she realized that she couldn't do anything for Lydrik while this yeti was trying to kill her and her rider. She had to kill this monster before she could help her human. She was grateful however that the Half-Men were mainly focused on breaching the village's fortifications, so she felt like she had some time.

Meanwhile, General Sershok chuckled as he watched Lydrik fall from the sky and he nonchalantly handed the crossbow back to its owner. He then started to sprint towards the human despite the heavy snow falling from the sky. It didn't take him long to reach the mound of snow that Lydrik had fallen on. His sprint slowed down to a job as he drew closer to the panting human and he finally stopped once he was a simple foot away from the downed Northman.

The thickly clothed human groaned as he instinctively rested his right hand near the bleeding wound on his left arm and he hissed as his gloved hand nudged against the bolt sticking out of his flesh. He then slowly looked up at the general, who was looking down at him with cold, black eyes.

"You have been busy since we last spoke, whelp. Not only did you find a dragon of the Order, but it seems that you have bonded with that ugly dragon. You have always been a thorn in my side, whelp, but now is the time to put an end to your life. Today, the gods of earth will aid me." the general spoke with a dark chuckle.

Lydrik watched with fear as the large Half-Man slowly reached for his morning star and pulled it out of its sheath. The weapon was as black as night and various spikes where sticking out of the iron ball on the end of it. With a load snarl, he lifted the weapon over his head and swung it downwards with all his might. The young man gasped and painfully, yet quickly, rolled to his side right before the spiked club smashed into the snow where his head once laid.

General Sershok growled and attempted to strike the human again, but his enemy once again rolled away from the attack. The human raised his arm to cast the spell he had learned from Zeggoro, but he had to stop in order to dodge another attack from his attacker. The general tried to crush the boy with his morning star several times, but Lydrik kept rolling to the side with each attempt. The Half-Man snarled in frustration and instead of trying to hit the human this time, he raised his weapon in the air. At that moment, a magical green aura enveloped the morning star and large spires made of stone burst out of the ground.

The young man cried out in fear as he got to his knees and painfully jumped away from a spire that nearly tore into him. A few of the Half-Men soldiers weren't so lucky however and they cried out as the stone spikes pierced through their bodies and suspended them in the air.

As the general lowered his weapon again, the various earthy spikes lowered back into the earth. Lydrik couldn't and the human archers above couldn't believe what they just saw. The Half-Men were known for their machinery, not magic. As far as everyone knew, the Half-Men didn't even know how to use magic. Sershok simply chuckled sadistically as he looked at the boy's terrified eyes.

"I took this weapon from a human warrior I slayed half a century ago. With this weapon at my side, the gods of earth are surely watching over me. And do you know what the gods want from me?" the Half-Man questioned as he roughly placed his bare foot on Lydrik's chest, pinning him to the ground. "They want me to kill you and take your spine as a trophy. Maybe your spine could be smithed into a nice dagger to kill more humans." he answered before he raised his glowing green morning star in the air.

Lydrik trembled with horror and he looked away to see that Pebona was still battling the yeti. The beast was bleeding heavily, but still fighting with all of its remaining strength. There was no possible chance of her killing the beast on time to save him. He then looked back up at the general and closed his eyes, expecting to feel great pain within moments.

That pain never arrived however. The general let out a sudden grunt and removed his foot from the human's chest. Lydrik slowly opened his eyes again to see a human-made bolt sticking out of the Half-Man's right breast.

Up on the wall directly above them, Lykke could be seen aiming his wooden crossbow directly at General Sershok. He had witnessed the fight between his adopted son and the Half-Man. Even if he was needed to fend off the rest of the Half-Man army, he'd be damned if he let the general do any further harm to his son.

General Sershok sharply looked upwards and snarled at the old man above them and held his weapon more tightly. With a load roar, he held his weapon in both hands and raised it high over his head. Once again, large pillars of rock shot out of the ground, but most of them were coming out of the ground below the village wall. The sharp spires easily tore through the wooden walls and numerous archers screamed as they were impaled by the lethal spires.

Lydrik watched with horror as his fellow villagers were torn to shreds by the magical attack and his lower lip quivered under his scarf as he helplessly watched his father hanging upside down from one of the stone pillars. The spike had torn clean through the old man's right upper leg and through his lower back.

"Dad!" the young Northman screamed with tears in his eyes as he tried to stand up, but he ended up falling over due to the pain in his arm.

The Half-Man general just chuckled cruelly as he lowered his morning star and the stone spikes followed suit. At that moment, the Half-Man army had smashed their way through the various logs that blocked the entrance and they were storming into the village, only to be met by heavy resistance from the villagers.

General Sershok briefly watched his soldiers run into the village before he looked down at Lydrik, who was sobbing at his feet. He scoffed in disgust at the human and raised his star to strike, but he stopped and almost fell to the ground when a large tremor caused the ground to shake. Something heavy had fallen to the ground.

Not too far away from them, the yeti from before was lying dead on the snow covered ground with multiple cuts and puncture wounds decorating its furred body. Pebona could be seen hovering in the air above the dead beast and a white mist was emitting from her nostrils. Both her maw and the sharp claws on her claws were drenched in yeti blood, but this didn't concern her. She was glaring at the general with her cold blue eyes.

The ice dragoness let out an ear-piercing roar before she dove forward with a few strong flaps of her wings. General Sershok's eyes widened and he raised his morning star in the air, but before he could summon any magic to aid him, the angered dragon snatched him up in her front paws and flew upward. Lydrik noticed that the Half-Man dropped his morning star during this, but he soon passed out from blood loss.

In the skies above, Pebona was flying directly upwards with the Half-Man in her grip. As hard as he tried to pry himself free of her grip, she proved to be too strong for him and she held him in an iron grip. He then tried to punch her legs to get her to release him, but his strong strikes didn't even faze her. He ended up giving up this struggle when he noticed how high in the air they were.

"You don't deserve to live, you horrid beast." the blue scaled dragoness snarled as she leveled out and hovered in midair.

Without giving the general a moment to reply, Pebona released her grip. General Sershok let out a loud roar as he fell downwards and his arms wailed around in the air in a vain attempt to slow his descent. The dragon watched with cold eyes as he fell onto one of the village's wooden houses and the Half-Man fell through the wooden roof and into the building. She squinted her eyes and she couldn't help but smirk when she noticed the general's motionless body within the home and a pool of red blood was spreading beneath him.

With their leader and the yeti dead, Pebona figured that the Half-Men would be no trouble to dispose of. She had to finish them off quickly however because she knew her rider was bleeding heavily down there. She had to end this quickly so a healer could help him without the risk of a stray Half-Man attacking them. With this in mind, the ice dragoness dived downwards with her wings tucked to her sides. She was going to finish this as soon as possible.


End file.
